


The Kids Aren't Alright

by samoyedpup



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Awful Parents, Bullying, Depression, Gen, Halloween, High School, Houseplant Flowey (Undertale), Hurt/Comfort, Illegal Activities, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Main Character Has a Dog, Main Character has a messy past, Main Character is adopted, Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Papyrus helps Frisk sell cookies, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", Puns & Word Play, Racism, Reckless Driving, Selectively Mute Frisk (Undertale), Spanish is spoken, Swearing, Thanksgiving Dinner, Underage Smoking, teenagers suck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2019-10-05 23:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17334755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samoyedpup/pseuds/samoyedpup
Summary: "And in the end,I'd do it all againI think you're my best friendDon't you know that the kids aren't all,Kids aren't alright."It's been about a year since the Monsters that were living under Mt. Ebott were freed from the Underground. They are living happily on the Surface amongst the Humans who are slowly coming to accept them, aside from some who are still upset with the fact that they are not alone. Cassidy is a human teenager almost like any other, but after a fateful encounter one morning before school, he finds himself facing trials, tribulation, and shenanigans as he learns about the Monsters that have come up from the Underground.ARC ONE: 1-???





	1. Sarcasm

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing, but feel free to enjoy this new story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Sticks and stones could break my bones  
> But anything you say will only fuel my lungs"
> 
> Some people just want a coffee.

 

**October 3rd**

_Cassidy was not a people person._

That in itself was an understatement. It was a long story as to why he avoided human (and monster, as of the past year) contact at all costs, but to make it short; after a long series of events when he was barely a child, he got thrown into the world with very bad social skills, and no one wanted to be friends with someone like him because no one wanted to deal with the baggage.

His life was certainly weird, and it only got weirder when the barrier broke on Mt. Ebott, which was followed by a sudden population of literal monsters popping up out of nowhere. He remembered watching the news that night and how frantic his Mother sounded on the other side of the phone, asking if he wanted to come back "home", but he insisted that staying with his Grandparents was fine. He didn't understand why she panicked so much. He had been living in Ebott with his Grandparents for about three years, and not much had changed since the monsters appeared a year ago... except the rising tension and hate crimes, but he simply shrugged towards those.

Nothing seemed to bring stupid people together more than hatred, he supposed.

It had been a bit jarring to find out that the old legends about the mountain being full of monsters were true. He had always thought they were just bedtime stories made up by parents to keep kids in line, but suddenly, here the monsters were in all their unique, wonderful glory. It was definitely an adjustment, but most people just got over it and moved on, including him. He might've not seemed like one of them, given that he always kept his head low and almost always had a scowl on his face, but the scowl was a diversionary tactic; look like you'll bite someone's head off, and they tend to give you a wide berth.

Despite that, he was usually in a good mood most days. Today was one of them so far, though it was hard to judge a day based on a few early hours.

Cassidy was currently walking down a main street towards Ebott High with his headphones in, his favourite music blasting into his ears to distract him from all the busybodies, and he was wearing his favourite black sweater, the hood of it pulled over his head to hide... well, everything. As angsty as it sounded, he hated himself, but then again, he was a teenager and his legs were currently burning from how far he had to walk. Sometimes he hated living near the edge of town, and other times, he couldn't be more grateful.  
As he walked, he saw a rabbit-like woman smile at him, and instead of just waving as he would to any humans who would miraculously smile at him, he gave her a smile in return. He was glad to live in a pretty monster-friendly town, so he got to see all sorts of different beings, but that didn't mean everyone was friendly, even to their own kind. It was better now than a year ago, at least. Instead of riots in the streets from humans trying to get rid of the monsters they started to hate out of fear, and hate crimes being committed without justice, at least now monsters were starting to gain more rights to fight off those who threw the first swing.

Nobody should be hated for looking different, and he had experience in the "looking different" department.

He was a natural born ginger with freckles and blue-green eyes to prove it, and he had grown out his hair back when he lived in Mexico with his adoptive family. When he was sent to live with his Grandparents, the first thing he did when he arrived in Ebott was dye his ginger hair the brightest blue he could find with a low budget, and when the length began to bug him, he began tying his hair up in pigtails instead of getting a haircut. He only ever got trims from his Grandmother, nothing more, and neither of his Grandparents questioned the way he presented himself, from what he wore almost every day to the pitch black colour he always painted on his nails.

He could luckily only dream of how disappointed his Father would be.

On his way to school, he always made a point to stop at the Come & Go Cafe a few blocks away for a large cup of a coffee, since it was better to have a kick in his system instead of fighting to keep himself awake for the next six hours at least. Every time he took a step inside, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at all the markings of a modern coffee shop: a half-moon matte countertop with a glass cabinet displaying a plethora of baked goods strategically placed by the cash register, the latest hits playing over the speakers a tad louder than the hour called for, and all of the seating options consisted of tall tables with small, thin stools that were chic in design.

Those stools were not at all made with a five-foot skeleton monster in mind.

Cassidy had come into the coffee shop and happened to catch a glance of him immediately from behind, mistaking him for being a typical human. However, a few seconds later, he noticed the thick-boned legs that stretched out from a pair of basketball shorts; their primary colour and white stripes matched up perfectly with the fur-hooded jacket that donned his shoulders. The monster was slouching over his phone, scowling at the device with every tooth, and the lights in his eyes danced an almost vivid bright white.

The teenager would have been curious as to what had the skeleton so offended, and while he was interested a smidgen, it didn't even compare to the sheer astonishment that he felt about his very existence.

He still wasn't used to monsters. They had been a normal enough sight and monsters came in all shapes and sizes, from King Dreemurr's mighty height of a whopping nine feet to Hotman, who was maybe three feet and five inches on his most irritable days when he manned the newsstand Cassidy happened to pass on the way home sometimes. Some monsters had multiple arms, legs, and heads, or none at all as the glob monster with his twisted mustache that he often saw at Hotman's stand exampled perfectly.

But this one... he was by far the most unique that Cassidy had ever seen.

It was probably the blatant staring, combined with the little voice in everyone's head that speaks up when it feels like they're on the receiving end of such an obviously rude action, but the monster's lamplight eyes suddenly swiveled to meet his. His irritation seemed to dampen only slightly by the question that was probably on his mind in that exact moment: what is their problem?

"Excuse me." The sound of a chipper voice next to him made Cassidy's head turn, his few bangs whipping in the air, and he suddenly noticed that he was first in line. "What can I get you today?"

"Sorry about that." He responded smoothly and sincerely, feeling slightly abashed for his diverted attention, and on someone who was no doubt waiting from the morning to be over with.

He went through with ordering his coffee, opting for a fair amount of milk and sugar to balance out its usually bitter taste, and he paid before stepping aside to wait at the pickup side of the counter... which happened to be only a few feet away from the monster himself. There were quite a few people in the Cafe that morning, which was understandable, and he was beginning to fidget when he decided to give in to impulse. Turning away from the chalkboard hanging over the register, he took a few steps towards the monster.

"Excuse me." He began as politely as he could manage without sounding grating, and there were those eyes again, landing on him with an accompanied grunt of questioning. Not commenting on the once-over he was given from top to bottom, he nodded at the empty seat across from the monster. "Do you mind if I sit while I wait for my order?"

The monster seemed to try and be discreet with his scoff, almost as if he was disgusted by the very thought, and with the staring form earlier, Cassidy would very well understand the reasoning if he decided to turn him away.

"ain't got my name on it."

Cassidy was already smiling from the given consent, but his smile only grew wider from the grin the skeleton monster somehow managed to wear, and he took a seat, grateful for the extra space between him and the crowd.

"Thanks." He spoke up, drawing the monster's attention away from his phone and his attempt to ignore the presence across from him. "You have every right to tell me off for my actions. I was really rude a moment ago, and I want to apologize for that."

"no problem." The monster huffed, though Cassidy had a feeling it was a big problem. "it was real classy of you, by the way. scary _bonehead_ like me, what's not to stare at?"

The corner of Cassidy's mouth twitched at the joke he barely caught onto, and despite the sarcasm, he couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

"That's just the thing." He insisted, not denying one bit that the skeleton was rather intimidating aside from his height. "I was just thinking... you look amazing." Cassidy bowed his head with his admission, and thus missed the initial half of the reaction he was given until a phone fell with a clatter onto the table.

"huh?"

Cassidy glanced up, somewhat worried that he'd offended the monster all over again, and maybe he was being looked at a bit oddly with eyes as wide as saucers... but still, even if it was better than the anger he was afraid of invoking, he was quick to try and explain himself.

"It's just that I think you really pull off that outfit, paired with your outward appearance; I think it looks really nice." Cassidy tapped a gloved finger against his knee as he spoke, watching as the monster's face went from frozen to a little slacker, and his eyes assessed him, although the disbelief didn't leave him.

"you're a real piece of work, aren't cha..." He muttered, and it made Cassidy smile again.

"I'm sorry. I just read recently in an advice column that one should always share what's on their mind if it happens to be kind, and I just happen to think..." He considered it again before it struck him, and his hands curled into fists. "You look really fucking awesome."

The lights of his eyes blink out, and a chill ran down Cassidy's spine, worry swimming in his stomach. Was he okay? Did he go too far?

The sound is booming and it fills the Cafe, every chin turning in his direction as the monster before him blatantly broke out into loud laughter. Cassidy blinked for a moment, considering again if he had done something wrong, but the sight of the skeleton swiping away a tear (somehow?) scared away the remainder of his hesitation. Smiling freely again, he soaked in the sound of amusement because, a short-lived as it was, it was rather pleasant.

"that's the last thing i expected to hear from someone like you, kid." He commented, and Cassidy couldn't stop himself from thinking as he glanced over his attire.

If there was one thing he hated, it was people calling him "kid", even if he was a teenager. He would've let it go if he had just been called an ass, or a douchebag, or even a crackhouse man-whore, but he'd be damned if he was gonna forgive someone calling him "kid". Yet... this felt like an exception he was willing to make.

"You're correct." He commented, but then met his eyes with all the hand-to-chest pomp he could muster. "However, I prefer obnoxious asshole, thank you."

There was that laugh again, and Cassidy was practically glowing, but the call for his order takes him away with an apology to his neighbour. The barista that handed him his drink smiled weakly and he thanked them accordingly, humming slightly, but rather than immediately leave the shop, he decided to use his last half hour to return to where the skeleton was still sitting. His laughter had gone away again, but his face was softer from it, if only slightly.

"Aha, my mission had some success," Cassidy mentioned and went on to explain himself when he was looked at questioningly with an irritated eye ridge raise. "You seemed upset. Someone must be late to meet you, huh? That explains why you haven't ordered yet." He sipped his drink and flinched away slightly; he was quite sure that his dull-headed curiosity would be the death of him.

The skeleton made a sound at the assumption, and he thought that he got it wrong, but his concern was confirmed when the monster spoke again.

"i'm not waitin' on anyone but the server. they're taking forever to give me what i ordered." He said the last bit with a thump of his thick hand on the table, but it didn't bother Cassidy; what bothered him was what he said. He entered the shop after the monster, after all, so how could he not have what he paid for by now?

"One moment." He spoke up abruptly, standing up and walking over to the pick-up counter without a further word from the monster. Someone else was already there, and he had to back up as they turned to leave before he could catch the barista from earlier. "Excuse me." He was trying to be polite since it was possible that there had been some kind of mistake. "My acquaintance..."

Cassidy paused, glancing back with an unvoiced question to the monster, and after he blinked, eyes darting to the side, he answered.

"sans."

"Sans, my acquaintance, has yet to receive his order." The teen continued, noticing as the barista's facade cracked at the attention drawn to the monster behind him, and thus weakening his resolve at being amiable further. It was just a mistake, surely.

"I-I'm sorry, but our store has a strict no-serve policy, and we will be unable to give him the order he requested." They said, their smile tight, even as he could sense something apologetic about it; they didn't like what they were saying, even as they were saying it.

"He paid for it, though, didn't he?" Cassidy asked, his smile slipping.

"Yes, b-but the cashier is still new to the job. They were unaware and, well..." They glanced behind him at Sans, but he didn't look himself as the skeleton gave a frustrated " _what?_ " in exclamation.

"May I speak with your manager, please? I don't want to take up any more of your time." He insisted, an edge to his voice even as he tried to reign the bubbles under his skin back.

The barista nodded and disappeared, heading through a door behind the counter, and he kept that fixed smile on his face. The manager was short in coming, an individual with curling blonde hair, perhaps in her mid-thirties, and she was wearing a white button-up with a tag that designated her position.

"My employee has informed me of the issue, and I have to say with my deepest regret that I simply can't budge on the matter." She explained with a knife-thin grin, immediately rankling his nerves further.

"I thought this business was apart of a well-known chain of stores." He wondered with a matter-of-fact tone and a smile just as crisp, but they began to smirk further, their eyes glinting. "Since the passing of the All-Equal Law, I'd hope that you're aware of how illegal this is?"

"For government-owned stores it is, but as it happens, this particular branch is strictly maintained by my family, the Wellington's."

"The Wellington's..." He murmured with some amount of surprise, knowing the rich name thanks to a friend of his, and he shrugged his shoulder. "Then you know the Price family." He slipped his hand into his back pocket, thankful that his friend group was so weird and that he was so forgetful about taking things out of his pockets at the end of the day, pulling out a Polaroid picture that was taken only yesterday.

The picture was of him and his friend group, consisting of five teenagers aged thirteen to seventeen, and as the manager glanced down, he didn't even have to blink as the colour bled from their face.

"Dunno how much proof this is that I'm friends with Josephine and Larissa Price, but believe what you want, I guess. Don't come crying to me when she vandalizes your store and gets away with it because her Dad is rich."

It was hard to mistake his blue pigtails and the young girl sitting on his shoulders because she won a bet, her sister walking alongside them with the slightest smile on her face; the only ones ready for the picture had been the short girl taking it, and the dark-skinned boy who only gave a thumbs-up. The manager said nothing, although the barista that had returned to their side during their conversation glanced tentatively down at the picture the manager was eyeballing, and her hands flew to her cheeks in shock. She backed away, darting to the machines behind the counter, and when she returned, it was with a large cup that she handed over alongside a stuttering apology.

The name "Sans" was written on the side of it in curling letters.

"Thank you," Cassidy spoke up with all honesty, sliding the picture back into his pocket before taking the drink and walking away with no further comment from the manager since the artery bulging unattractively at her temple was all that he needed by way of acknowledgment. "Here--why do you look so amused?"

Sans was standing beside the table in all his five-foot uniqueness, but instead of looking as upset as Cassidy expected, he was grinning from metaphorical ear to metaphorical ear as shit-eating as the teenager had ever seen anyone ever do in his life.

"someone just got their boney ass handed to them over a coffee. what _isn't_ there to laugh at?" He, Sans, asked rhetorically, positively chuckling, and when he turned to leave, it didn't fade. "did you see their faces?"

No one jumped up to immediately stop the two of them as they went, although heads turned that Cassidy refrained from peering back at, and when the door clicked shut behind Sans, the bell inside sounding with their departure, the teenager kept his shoulders firm. Sans stood beside him, and he was given the chance to realize that the skeleton really was seven inches shorter than him, though he was almost twice as broad. He couldn't help but let the stiffness in his spine soften as he marveled anew at his presence.

"thanks for that, by the way. you didn't have to."

"It was no problem, really. It was a nice start to my day, given that I'm gonna be the one with their boney ass handed to them when I get to school late." Cassidy waved a hand, utterly frustrated with himself for not doing more than using a wonderful photo of his friends to bribe an asshole.

"you better go, then. ebott high is, what, fifteen minutes away? you'll be right on _spine_ if you run for it." Sans insisted, the pun nearly slipping past Cassidy's worried thoughts, but the teenager let out a laugh and nodded his head. "got a number?"

"Ten," Cassidy responded sarcastically, wondering if melting into a puddle of goo was out of the question after that stupid reply. "Hold on."

Pulling out a pad of sticky notes, he clicked a pen that he had shoved into his jacket pocket before he left the house and quickly wrote down his phone number, peeling the sticky note off. When he handed it to Sans, it ended up just sticking to the skeleton's palm, and they both laughed at each other.

"seriously, you better go." Sans reminded him. "thanks again."

"Don't worry about it." Cassidy shrugged nonchalantly before waving lazily and beginning to make his way down the sidewalk as if nothing had happened. He pulled out his phone to check the time and start up his music again, only to find that it was already 8:40, which meant that he had five minutes to be right on time. " _SHIT!_ "

Being wary of his hot coffee, he began to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sarcasm - Get Scared


	2. Smoke and Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This is my word, this is my way"
> 
> Life isn't fair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter, woo!
> 
> Chapters will range from long to short. It really depends on my inspiration and motivation.

**October 3rd**

 

_When Cassidy stepped outside, the cold October air bit at his cheeks, but the deep chill was short lived when he managed to light a cigarette and put it to his lips._

Inhale, exhale... like a burning flame, something rapidly ignited in his chest, swirling and creating burning patterns across his torso that he couldn't see on the surface. He didn't do this often, but it was something that had the doctor's telling his friends it was their lungs' precious engines starting to falter; one of his friends joked that it was their broken heart finally starting to beat again.

"Hey! No smoking on school grounds!"

Cassidy didn't flinch at the loud voice behind him. Instead, he briefly glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the five feet and four inches of aesthetic style that was his best friend. She was surprisingly easy to see among the sea of students from Ebott High School, and despite that fact that she was still indoors, there was already a half-smoked cigarette dangling from her teeth.

"That's funny, coming from you." He sighed with a roll of his eyes; they had both suffered today, it seemed.

Temperance Rivera, better known as Pepper, grinned as she bounced over to Cassidy Aspen's side, leaning back against the stone railing that he was sitting on.

They didn't speak much when they sat together, finding more solace in the mere presence of each other rather than in the other's voice, but sometimes Pepper went on and on about so many things that he couldn't keep up. Today was a smoking day, made obvious by the cancer sticks hanging from their mouths, and by how Pepper exhaled a rather large puff of smoke as a group of dolled-up older girls entered her short range of vision. They grimaced as they walked through it, sending the pair dirty glares as they went past, and Pepper only stared back at them, never losing an edge to her somewhat maniacal smile.

As minutes continued to go past, more and more teenagers started to spill from the dirty, rusted doors that lead in and out of the high school. Boys and girls, everyone in between and not, were bumping into each other on their way down the slippery stairs, and no one bothered to apologize as they went. Cassidy rolled his eyes again, but he knew that there was the most traffic this way because the younger students were afraid of taking a side door, knowing that's where they were most likely to get trapped by the seniors.

Cassidy didn't blame them. He tried to stay out of their way, too.

"Where are Jermaine, Joss, and Issa?" He wondered, letting another breath pass through his lips as he finally broke the silence. Jermaine didn't go by a nickname like the rest of them did, at least amongst their friend group in Cassidy and Larissa's cases, but he had come up with Joss' years ago. Josephine, that is, but Joss was so much better.

"I last saw Issa actually making friends with someone in the cafeteria, and J&J are probably together." Pepper explained with a shrug, her grin only growing. "They're probably making out in the janitor's closet."

"Because Mr. Price isn't a racist asshole, I'm sure." Cassidy snorted, and Pepper let out a giggle. Joss might've been cool, and Issa very sweet, but their parents were terrible. "If they're making out, they're most likely in the Girl's locker room. No one ever goes in there anymore, except for gym classes."

"Yes. Because Mr. Price can't get in there."

Pepper pulled the cigarette from her teeth and keeled over in her own laughter, and Cassidy joined her shortly after, laughing more because of Pepper's laugh than the joke she made. He was laughing so hard that his hair drifted into his face as he leaned forward, nearly falling off the railing, but moments later, their laughter ceased.

The people of conversation, Josephine Price and Jermaine Bennett, were suddenly at the top of the staircase, and standing behind them--to no one's surprise--was Larissa Price.

"What's so funny?" Joss questioned with a frown, immediately lighting up a cigarette despite Issa's frown.

Out of the five of them, Joss smoked the most with Jermaine in a close second, and Issa didn't smoke at all because she was thirteen and they all knew better than to ruin her lungs. Pepper and Cassidy only smoked on particularly bad days or special occassions, so they only went through three packs of cigarettes a year at the most. Joss had a job and a habit to steal from her Dad's purse, so she provided amost everything for them because she offered to do so, and turning down Josephine Price was a hard task.

"Nothing." Pepper reassured the blonde with a gothic sense of style, sending her a wink. "Did you have fun during the seventh period?"

Jermaine shook his head, though he smirked at the playful antic, and Joss raised a single finger. Hint: it was the middle one.

"Fuck you, Rivera."

"But... what about Jermaine?" Pepper inquired, looking between the pair deviously, and then the brunette leaned closer to Joss. "I mean... he's right there."

Joss' eyes narrowed into slits and she smacked Pepper hard in the chest, nearly knocking the shorter girl backwards and off the stone seat if it wasn't for her quick grip on Cassidy's shoulder to stabilize her.

"You're a real bitch." Joss sneered, though there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "Get that cancer stick out of your mouth before it burns you."

Quick like a whip, she plucked the cigarette from between Pepper's lips and threw it to the ground, crushing it beneath her studded boot. The brunette looked down and blinked once, twice, thrice...

"Well, that wasn't very nice."

"Let's just go already." Joss scoffed, and the group of teenagers went silent before starting to move.

Cassidy let his dead cigarette fall to the wet pavement before hopping off the railing, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Joss had already started down the street with Jermaine by her side, only the dark-skinned boy bothering to look back as the blonde tromped on ahead, and Cassidy fell into step between Pepper and Issa. He slung an arm around Issa's skinny shoulders as the group started to walk down the dark, dirty sidewalk, away from the local school district and towards their secret spot.

For as long as any of them could remember, though Cassidy had only been around for three years, their surroundings hadn't changed as they grew up in the small town of Ebott. Sure, there were monsters now and huge buildings like the mall, but those only felt like additions. From a distance, the town could be considered beautiful, but up close in all it's horrified glory and reality, the place was a shit show of politics and lost dreams--at least, that's what the south side was known for, and the south side was the side most of them grew up in. It was the side they had to deal with when going to school.

Ghosts were hard to run from in Ebott. _Fuck_. There wasn't a single person in town that didn't have something awful in their closet.

The five teenagers and their families were no different. The Rivera's, Bennett's, Price's, and Aspen's were all known to somebody, some more than others; at least on their names was continuously being brought up now and again by people on the street, and it wasn't always in the best light. They didn't mind too much, given that a bad reputation could sometimes protect better than an innocent one, but it was annoying. In Ebott, there were five Rivera's, three Bennett's, three Aspen's, and God knows how many Price's beyond the six that Cassidy knew... and all of their families were fucked up.

They were quite the bunch.

Cassidy was pulled from his thoughts as they began going down a dirt path into the forest, one made alongside some others for joggers and tourists, but to them, it was their only escape. Four of them couldn't stand their homes and one of them had nothing else to do most of the time, since they all knew the town like the backs of their hands and couldn't deny it. They knew it all; four of them were born here, after all.

As soon as they safely arrived at the ravine, after walking down a dirt path and sliding down a bit of a steep hill, all of them split off to do their own things, though they didn't go far. Joss took a seat on the leaning tree and Jermaine leaned against it, Pepper used her old jacket to start gathering all the rocks to throw into the ravine (that had slowly been filling up with water over the past couple of years for some reason) with Issa, and Cassidy was given Jermaine's old jacket so he could sit on it; Jermaine always made sure to pack the same jacket for the blue-haired boy, which was very appreciated.

"This morning, I sold Mr. Jacobson's toaster oven back to him after he said that it went missing." Joss spoke up after everyone was settled and throwing rocks into the ravine, grabbing a twenty dollar bill from her pocket. "The old man didn't even realize it was his own when I gave it back to him."

Some of them laughed, others simply smiling, but Issa frowned at her words and shook her head.

"I feel bad about that." The younger blonde insisted as she threw another rock into the rising water of the ravine. "I don't like stealing, no matter how bad it gets."

Joss rolled her eyes in response but was quick to defend herself.

"Dad does it, and so does Mom." She argued from where she sat, her feet now kicked up and her body lying down on the big trunk of the leaning tree. There was a cigarette between her fingers, half-smoked and needing to be lit again. "You know how awful Dad is, Issa, and Mom brings stuff home from the hospital all the time."

"That's different." Issa snapped back, but she was quick to go silent again.

Jermaine picked up the conversation, speaking up for the first time all day, and none of them were surprised by him anymore. He would sometimes go silent for weeks only to speak up about something weird, but then again, nothing was weird to them anymore.

"Took a racist kid's lunch money." The dark-skinned teen informed dully, but when he noticed Issa's disappointed glare, he quickly raised his hands in defense. "Made sure he had something to eat. He really likes broccoli."

"Let me guess." Issa sneered, putting her hands on her hips, and Cassidy couldn't help but let a smirk pull at his lips. If it wasn't for Issa, they would probably be a much worse group of delinquents, but she was like a lock on a chain for them. "You gave him your broccoli and ate the chocolate brownie--which I know you had, I saw the crumbs in your lunchbox--right in front of him, didn't you?"

"No shit."

"Watch your mouth, you ass." Issa turned away from Jermaine and started throwing rocks into the ravine again, ignoring Joss' stern glare for a moment before speaking again. "How come you all get to swear and I don't?"

"Because we're over fifteen." Pepper answered, swinging her arm back before tossing a rock across the ravine, and even though she looked disappointed, Cassidy knew she would throw it again next time. "Once you reach fifteen, the whole fucking vocabulary is yours, Issa. Only two more years to go."

"It's a rite of passage." Cassidy spoke up, leaning his head back to look at the falling leaves, and Issa narrowed her eyes, flames seeming to dance in her irises.

"It's not fair." The young girl corrected angrily, and Pepper wrapped her arms around the young blonde's shoulders with a shit-eating grin.

"And what do we say to that, dear Issa?" The brunette teased, ruffling Issa's already messy hair. "Come on, I know that you know the motto." By Issa's sudden silence, they all knew she didn't want to accept defeat, and rather than face the problem, she looked away and crossed her arms over her chest.

Joss, on the other hand, was always happy to answer in her most sarcastic voice.

"Life isn't fair." She sneered before sticking her tongue out playfully. "Say it with us, Issa!" They all began to repeat it.

" _Life. Isn't. Fair._ "

The young girl didn't speak and instead, due to knowing her way around loopholes, only raised a single finger to four older kids rather than risking another swear. Then, just as quickly as the ravine filled with sound, it returned to silence as Issa turned her attention back to throwing rocks and the others went back to doing their own things.

Letting out a sigh, Cassidy got to his feet and approached Pepper.

"Pep, give me one of your best rocks."

 

* * *

 

 

It was near midnight when Cassidy got a text message from an unknown number and his heart almost stopped, thinking it was someone he didn't want to hear from, but instead it was from none other than the skeleton he had met before school.

 **Unknown: sup kid**  
**Unknown: it's the _bonehead_ from earlier**

He did his best not to laugh, opting for a smile instead, and he put his contact information in his phone before writing a response.

 **Cas: You used that one already.**  
**Cas: What's shakin' bacon?**  
**sans: seriously**  
**sans: that's corny even 4 me**  
**Cas: Good thing I like corn, then.**  
**sans: i'm not even going to reply to that**

Cassidy let out a soft laugh at that one, rolling over as far as his phone charger would allow him to go.

 **sans: anyway**  
**sans: it's a little weird having a kid's number**  
**Cas: I'm 16 >:0**  
**sans: that explains the emoji**  
**Cas: You're a BUTT.**  
**sans: no, i'm a skeleton**

"Damn it." Cassidy groaned out loud, letting his head fall against the pillow.

 **Cas: I'm going to sleep.**  
**sans: hi, going to sleep**  
**sans: i'm sans**  
**Cas: GOODNIGHT!!**

He tossed his phone over his shoulder, closing his eyes and planning to actually go to sleep, but when his phone vibrated, he couldn't help but roll over to take a look. No one else texted him this late, so he knew that it was Sans, unless one of his friends needed a place to stay for the night.

**sans: goodnight, going to sleep**

"... _punny_ skeleton."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smoke and Mirrors - Imagine Dragons


	3. Stressed Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink  
> But now I’m insecure and I care what people think"
> 
> Cassidy gets some news, and then he meets some cookie sellers. Also, the Spanish starts in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm uploading this early because the Maximum Lunar Eclipse is tonight!! I'm excited to see it asdfghjkl

**October 4th**

 

_Cassidy woke up the next morning in a good mood, ready to spend his weekend doing nothing and worrying about nothing, but as he got out of bed, he caught the scent of eggs and bacon._

Walking down the staircase to follow the smell in a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, he remembered that weekends meant his Grandparents would be home instead of working, and his stomach rumbled thinking about his Grandmother's cooking. On the days off that his Grandparents got, they usually liked to stay in unless they had other things they had to do, but sometimes they would go out into town just for the sake of spending time together.

He walked into the kitchen, already able to hear the hungry whimpering of the Pomeranian he had found within his first year of living in Ebott, and he took a seat at the table across from his Grandfather.

"Down, Atlas." He chuckled, only getting a soft bark in response, and he decided to greet his Grandparents instead of arguing with the small dog. "Good morning."

He let his eyes look over the food his Grandmother had made and squinted, seeing that there were chocolate chip pancakes along with the eggs and bacon. He was suspicious because, usually, when his Grandmother made meals like this, she was buttering him up for something.

"What's the occasion?"

"What?" His Grandmother, Esperanza, questioned innocently, finishing the last pancake and putting it onto one of the three plates. Her accent was thick, giving away her Spanish origins, but Cassidy didn't have an accent at all despite having grown up with the Aspen family. "Can't a Grandmother make a delicious meal without there being any other incentives?"

That's it. Cassidy planned to shut himself in for the next forty-eight hours to avoid all contact with anything breathing other than the people in the room right now, including Atlas... but he would still eat what was on the plate in front of him, even if it made his Grandmother start talking again.

"So," Esperanza started carefully, sharing a look with her husband; he seemed unwilling to be apart of this conversation. "How is school going?"

"It's fine," Cassidy responded easily, grabbing a few pieces of bacon and leaning over to put them on the floor for Atlas, who happily chomped them up. "I don't know why you're asking. I don't get Straight A's, but my grades are fine."

"I mean..." She trailed off for a moment, a frown pulling at her lips. "How are your friends? There's no one giving you trouble, right?" It was his turn to frown.

"They're great." He responded, shrugging his shoulders. "No one can give me a hard time with the friends I have, _abuela_. Besides, I thought you liked them?" He ate a forkful of eggs.

"I do, nieto, I do! They're wonderful, really. I... was just expecting these friends to last long. Sometimes you can be too stubborn."

Cassidy ignored the comment and simply shrugged once more.

"Are you not happy with my choice in friends?" He questioned, feeling as if his Grandmother was acting odd, especially when she started shaking her head quickly.  
"Of course I'm happy! It's just... I wonder why you aren't friendly to everyone."

" _Abuela_ , what are you talking about?"

Cassidy furrowed his eyebrows at her, looking towards his Grandfather, but the man hid behind his newspaper. Esperanza let out a sigh and then it was quiet for a moment, aside from Atlas whimpering for more food, which Cassidy didn't mind giving.

"Dario is visiting Ebott next September."

With that single comment, Cassidy could feel his heart beginning to sink into his stomach, and he opened his mouth to say something... but nothing came out.

"He has a meeting... a couple of very important meetings, and he'll be staying with us," Esperanza explained, trying her best to smile as she reached across the table to put her hand over his, but he could barely feel it. " _Nieto_ , I know you don't have the best relationship with _su padre_ , but I think you should really work out this thing between you two."

Cassidy scoffed and snatched his hand away from her.

"You think I should give him a second chance after everything he's done?" He demanded, slightly raising his voice though he hated to do so. He couldn't believe this family sometimes.

" _Miel_ ," She sighed, her tone patient despite how frustrated he could tell she was. "I know he's made some mistakes-"

"Mistakes!?" His anger started to worsen, his fists clenching under the table, but he wasn't losing it because he could feel Atlas weaving between his feet, letting out a worried whimper.

"He's your Father. You need to learn how to forgive him."

He got to his feet right then and there and started to walk away from the table. He hated this; he hated having this talk over and over again! He hated how he was still treated like a child.

"Cassidy Jesse, do not walk away when I am speaking to you." His Grandmother spoke up sternly, getting up from her seat, and that made him stop in his tracks, even though he wanted to run up the stairs. "He is your Father." Like slowing down her words would make any difference. "You need to forgive him, _nieto_. What he did-"

"How would you know? It's not like you were there!" Cassidy snapped, feeling the words escape his lips before it was too late, and instead of waiting for his Grandmother's face to go cold with defeat, his feet carried him up the stairs and into his room.

He slammed the door behind him, despite hearing Atlas on the other side.

 

* * *

 

Cassidy started to go through with his plan to shut himself in for the next forty-eight hours as soon as his Grandparents had left the house. He shut the blinds, drew the curtains, locked the doors, turned off all but one lamp, and settled to watch a movie with Atlas on the beat-up couch in the living room until he got bored.

He was settling into movie two, bundled in his favorite sweatpants and a baggy shirt with Atlas' very pleased looking mug on his lap when there was furious knocking on the door. Atlas began to bark, jumping to his feet and racing to the door, and he sniffed furiously at the mantle as Cassidy let out a groan. He shuffled towards the door nonetheless, pulling his hoodie on as he made his way there, and undid the lock as he pulled on his hood.

"Um, hello?" He questioned, cracking the door open just barely, and he was bombarded.

"GREETINGS, HUMAN! WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE SOME BAKED GOODS, NAMELY COOKIES!?"

Cassidy cringed at the loud voice, wanting to close the door, but Atlas was in the way.

"I, uh... think you've got the wrong... human."

"THERE ARE NO WRONG HUMANS! WE ARE GOING DOOR-TO-DOOR!"

We? Cassidy pulled the door open a little more to see that this guy--another skeleton--was almost two feet taller than him and he involuntarily shrank back a little, though his eyes landed on a child by his side. Uh... huh...

"Oh, uh... sorry." He apologized, feeling bad about being so awkward, and about how much Atlas had barked. Speaking of Atlas, he was trying very hard to get out... "I hope my dog didn't scare either of you."

"NOT AT ALL!" The tall skeleton insisted, and by the smile on the child's face, he could tell that they were swooning over how small and fluffy Atlas was; looks were deceiving.

"... you said something about cookies?" Cassidy asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "How much is it for a box?"

"FIVE DOLLARS!"

"Right... um... would you like... to come in? I left my wallet in the kitchen and I can't leave the door open-"

The question sent his gut churning nervously, but he stepped away from the door, pulling Atlas back with him. The pair hesitated, but then the tall skeleton bounded inside with his cape(?) fluttering and a huge box in his arms, the small human child following right behind him.

"WOW, HUMAN! YOU HAVE MANY BOOKS!"

Everything was kind of left everywhere, including a couple of books that had been taken off the bookshelf, but Cassidy decided to just shrug uncomfortably.

"It's... like a hobby."

Cassidy paused, grabbing his wallet off the crowded kitchen table before flinging open the curtains and bundling up the blankets that had been thrown onto the couch, shoving them into the closet.

"I'm, um, sorry that this place is a mess. I wasn't... expecting any company."

They didn't even know his name... and he didn't know either of theirs!

"HUMAN! YOUR SMALL CANINE SEEMS TO BE ENRAPTURED BY FRISK'S ARMS!"

It would seem that he now knew the human child's name. As he walked over to the main entrance, he saw that Atlas was shoving his head up under the human child- Frisk's arms, trying to get some attention from them. Cassidy couldn't help but smile a little.

"No, no, he just wants to be pet. Atlas, leave 'em alone." He sighed, but his dog seemed very content to not listen to him, nuzzling the human child again. "I, uh, have that five dollars."

"PERFECT!"

As the tall skeleton exchanged a box of cookies for five dollar bills, Cassidy noticed that Frisk gave Atlas the most sincere smile he'd ever seen and started to pet him, surprised when he let out a sound to indicate that he was very much enjoying himself. He let out a soft laugh, able to relax a little because Atlas was a good judge of character and was whining when their guests had to leave.

"Thanks for the cookies." Cassidy thanked them, shaking the box of goods a little bit as they stepped off his porch.

"THANK YOU FOR BUYING A BOX! YOU ARE THE FIRST SALE TODAY!" The tall skeleton rejoiced, obviously an optimistic soul because... that didn't sound right... "THE GREAT PAPYRUS THANKS YOU FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP!" Whoa, friendship-

"Uh... no problem..."

"WE SHALL BE OFF!"

As he closed his door, he could only think about how that was quite an adventure, considering his plans to stay locked up for forty-eight hours, and Atlas seemed very pleased.

"I guess I have... more friends?" Cassidy asked himself more than anyone, but Atlas responded with a loud sneeze. "Yeah, I dunno, either. They seemed nice, though."

Nicer than most, anyway.

 

* * *

 

Cassidy couldn't sleep.

After the encounter earlier, he had watched a bunch of movies while eating the box of cookies he had purchased, though he had opted to make a few sandwiches to eat throughout the day. He had been trying to go to sleep for several hours now... but trying was a keyword. His Grandparents still weren't back yet, so the worry he felt had him tossing and turning in his bed, much to Atlas' despise.

He picked up his phone to check the time, reading 12:15 in the morning.

The worry was starting to eat at him, the anxiety building up, so he decided to call his Grandmother instead of being stubborn and just waiting for them to come home. There was no answer, but he quickly got a text instead.

 **Abuela: was out with some friends. On our way home. Love you**.

Cassidy let out a sigh, both in relief and annoyance, and he rolled over once again. She couldn't have contacted him at least once before now, or gotten his Grandfather to do it? He figured that she was still mad at him and, after what he had said, it wasn't so surprising, but to worry him like that; thinking that something had happened to them because of him? That wasn't fair to him.

He couldn't handle losing either of them, especially if it was him to blame.

He couldn't handle that again.

His thoughts started drifting to his Father despite knowing that he would have a whole year and a month to prepare for the man's arrival. It wouldn't be too bad if his Grandparents were home all the time, but they weren't, meaning that he would probably have to be home alone with him... and it was hard to ignore him.

It's not like he wasn't civil; he most definitely was, but Cassidy couldn't help but feel sick around him. Everyone praised the ground he walked on and loved him, and Cassidy figured that the worst part of it all was that he wanted to like him. Part of him looked up to his Father because he was... well, his Father. He wanted to be that kind of person, the kind that can forgive and forget, and finally move on...

But he couldn't. He was stuck. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with him, but he couldn't let go of all those years...

Even if the words exchanged were true.

 

* * *

 

As soon as Cassidy woke up, he tip-toed his way down the hall to peek into his Grandparents' room, glad to see them both lying in their bed and snoring loudly. Instead of waking them up, partially because of yesterday's argument and partially because they must've had a rough night, he went downstairs and made some eggs and toast for himself.

He was in the middle of eating his breakfast when he heard a notification ping from his phone, and he checked it to see that he had a new message.

**sans: why did the bicycle fall over**   
**sans: because it was two tired**

Cassidy couldn't help but pause to think about it, and then he snorted rather unattractively.

**Cas: Stop it. I'll hit you.**   
**sans: is that a promise**   
**Cas: Ha. You officially sound like a teenage boy, congrats.**   
**sans: how do u know i'm not one**   
**Cas: You have a point. You're certainly as obnoxious as one.**   
**sans: ouch**

He smiled a bit, getting up to put his plate in the sink and vowing to wash it later if his Grandmother didn't get to it first, and then he made his way back up the stairs. He didn't have anything to do today, so he would probably read in his room all day... unless Atlas wanted to go to the park. That wasn't a bad idea.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone walking down the hall, and he looked up to see none other than his Grandmother.

" _Buenos días_." She greeted with a yawn, and he mumbled the same greeting in return.

It was common that, after a fight, the two of them would pretend nothing ever happened. It wasn't exactly healthy, but neither of them wanted to push the other if they weren't up for it. Cassidy watched her go down the stairs and disappear into the kitchen, hearing a click as she turned the kettle on, and then he disappeared into his room. There was no point in arguing more. He knew it wasn't her decision...

His Father did what he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stressed Out - Twenty One Pilots
> 
> ~
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Abuela = Grandmother  
> nieto = grandson  
> su padre = your father  
> Miel = Honey  
> Buenos días. = Good morning.


	4. Hard Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "(Hard times) gonna make you wonder why you even try  
> (Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry"
> 
> Thanksgiving. Um... that's about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is an early update. Shut up.

**October 6th**

 

_About a week had passed since Cassidy had met a certain short skeleton, coincidentally learning of his Father's visit only days after, and October was slowly sinking in for real with Thanksgiving right around the corner._

The pale light of the afternoon crept across the floorboards, cutting between the cracks, and the white sheets on Cassidy's bed were crumpled, forgotten and left unmade. There were unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink; the television the hung on the wall in the living room had remained off for more than eight hours now, but the throw blankets left haphazardly on the couch's cushions had yet to be removed. The only footwear by the front door were seasonal ones and Cassidy's usual pair of shoes (since it was Saturday), some pairs still soaked through from traversing through puddles in the rain, and there were old leaves stuck to the welcome mat.

These things reminded him of his presence a dozen times, but none of them felt like good enough reasons for him to get up from the bench in his Grandfather's study and leave the grand piano alone.

The darkest room in the house happened to be his Grandfather's study; there was a window on one of the walls near the piano, but due to the high walls of the building next to theirs, natural light had a difficult time remaining in the study for very long. His Grandfather appreciated it, thinking that it gave the study a cozier atmosphere with its bookshelves and writing desk, but then again, that came from a man who would rather lock himself inside to read than go outside on a beautiful summer day.

He picked his hand up from his lap and pressed down with his forefinger on one key, a single note echoing throughout the room until he shifted to another. It was harsher that time, though he didn't mean for it to be; one note, another, the same finger farther down the row, and on the fringes of his mind something else was playing, something fast like the tinkling of distant chimes. He picked up his other hand and added it alongside the other, playing at the same time as an old duet, but he was unable to merge with it; it was spirited, a repetition of notes that shifted into something complex, something for two pairs of hands.

It was hard to even remember it.

His playing trailed off and silence descended again, fingertips brushing away from the keys, and he reached up to pull the blanket hanging over his shoulders closer. Atlas took that lapse as an opportunity to butt in, sitting between the gap in his legs, and sighed very loudly.

"Yeah, yeah..." Cassidy let out a soft laugh, ruffling the fur just above his dog's eyebrows. "You haven't been pet in, like, a million years..." Atlas let out a pleased sound. "... you wanna go to the park?"

Atlas immediately shot out into the open, tap dancing briefly, and began to wiggle with excitement.

"Really? I can't hear you."

The Pomeranian let out a few loud barks, wiggling more, and Cassidy let out a soft laugh as he got up from the bench.

"Alright, let me get dressed and we'll go."

It didn't take long for him to throw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, almost falling down the stairs as he headed to the front door due to a very excited Atlas, and he attached the dog's leash to his collar before even he dared to unlock the door.

The stroll was surprisingly quiet. Across the street to the sidewalk, turn left, and then onto the busy main road, which the park opened onto about half a mile away. He and his friends had once thrown rocks at some bullying thugs, and he had to take the long way home to throw them off; there was another entrance to his street a little way down. It had worked, but it had left all five of them breathless and tired, though it was fun.

... well, it was quiet until he was about halfway there. Cassidy nearly had a heart attack when none other than Sans just sort of appeared next to him and fell into step with his slow rhythm. He had found out days ago that, surprisingly, that Sans only lived down the block from him, though it was unsurprisingly because of how loud and open Papyrus was. To confirm suspicions, the two skeletons were indeed brothers, and they often took care of the human child named Frisk whenever Frisk's Mother couldn't.

He didn't really know anything else.

"no need to jump out of your skin, kid." Sans insisted, winking at Cassidy with quite the smug grin. How could he... do that...?

"Easy for the guy with no skin to say." Cassidy countered, raising his nose to the skeleton despite his smile, and he was momentarily confused again when Sans somehow managed to narrow his... eyesockets.

"i'm offended."

"You'll live." Cassidy laughed, mostly as a way to calm his racing heart; Sans was good at scaring others, whether he intended to or not. "What are you doing here? I thought you worked, like, 85% of the time."

"i'm on break," Sans responded with a shrug of his shoulders, and Cassidy rolled his eyes. He's heard that one before, multiple times. "you never introduced me to your pal."

"Oh, this is Atlas. He's a creature of lesser brain power, but more love than the common human." Cassidy laughed, turning into the park, and for some reason, Sans followed him instead of heading back to work. That, of course, would imply that he would ever actually go back to work...

The moment Atlas was unhooked from his leash, he headed straight for the ducks, and Cassidy couldn't help but wonder if his dog thought that the winged creatures were just oddly-shaped dogs. He took a few steps further and then settled on his favorite bench, the one with the nice view of the pond, and he was a little surprised when Sans sat down next to him. Sans, the blue-haired teen had discovered, was very lazy. Shocking.

A comfortable silence settled between the two of them for a moment.

"Sans?"

The skeleton hummed a little in questioning, looking ready to doze off right then and there.

"What was it like, underground?"

Sans went stiff and Cassidy immediately regretted ever opening up his mouth, though he had simply been curious for a while. He had heard about the Underground in advertisements, stupid ones that were like "Take a visit to the Underground and unleash your inner monster, roar", but they were... well, obviously, they were stupid and barely legitimate. He was hoping that asking about it could maybe be a chance to bring him and Sans closer, not push them apart.

"Um, sorry, that was... sudden. You don't have to... talk about it if you don't want to." He quickly spat out, trying to put a bandaid on the situation, and Sans seemed to relax, though his smile was still tense.

Cassidy hated smiles like that.

"it's fine. the Underground wasn't much, compared to this." Sans insisted, gesturing to the view where Atlas was busy trying to find out if there was anything edible in the bushes. "Paps and i came from Snowdin." Cassidy gave him an odd look. "seriously. that's the name of the town we came from. there was also Waterfall and Hotland."

"Oh, wow." Cassidy couldn't help but let out a light laugh. "Whoever was in charge of naming things probably got fired, huh?"

"the King kind of sucks at names."

" _Dios mío_ , that was the King!?" Cassidy began to laugh harder, glad that Sans had probably gotten used to his random Spanish by now. "Holy cow."

"goat, actually."

For some reason, Cassidy wasn't able to contain himself at that and he lost it, dragging his hand across his mouth as he tried to calm down.

"Wow, what a history lesson." He barely managed to get out, and Sans just chuckled, not saying anything else about the Underground. Atlas bounced up to them, seeming tired, and Cassidy took that as a cue to lean down and attach his leash again. "I should get Atlas home before he takes a nap in the grass."

"you wound me." He sighed dramatically, placing a hand over where his heart would be. "and here i was about to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner to meet our friends."

Cassidy did a double take.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"sure thing. we wouldn't mind, and you can bring your folks with you." Sans replied, though he paused and moved his eyes away uncertainly. "i mean, if you want to."

It would go horribly, especially with his folks and friends who were always around him on Thanksgiving. His new friends would hate him and Sans would stop hanging out with him because he would realize how mediocre he was, and how much he really sucked. They would all hate him... but maybe it would be fun. Pepper did say that she was tired of the same old things at least five times a day...

"Okay. Sure."

"monday at six. i'll text you the address." The skeleton grinned easily, winking at Cassidy again before getting to his feet, stretching, and shambling off.

Cassidy turned to Atlas, who was lying in the grass and patiently waiting to go home.

"... I hope you've enjoyed yourself."

 

 

* * *

 

 

**October 8th**

 

The weekend went by too quickly, as it usually did whenever Cassidy was impending some kind of doom... but this time, it was worse. His Grandparents were delighted to hear that he had been invited to spend Thanksgiving with some friends other than his usual ones, and even more delighted to know that they didn't have to cook or stay home alone together. His friends were alright with following him around on Thanksgiving since they usually came over to spend it with him, but the problem was...

He hadn't told any of them that they were going to be stepping into a house full of monsters, and the more they gushed, the more his veins felt like they were turning to ice. The fear of failure felt like it was consuming his whole being by the time Monday evening rolled around; he was reluctant to get out of bed. Atlas had been pawing over him all week, trying to figure out what was wrong, not understanding why he was so anxious, but the Pomeranian was trying his best anyway. He was there, head next to Cassidy's as the blue-haired teen woke up from an unnecessary nap, watching him with a concerned gaze.

"I'm okay, Atlas... I just need a minute..."

He was not okay, he was going to explode; that's what was going to happen. Boom, that's it for Cassidy Aspen. This "Thanksgiving Dinner" sounded like it was going to be more of a party, which he thought that his friends wouldn't mind, but his Grandparents would. There was going to be more than just a handful of monsters attending, he knew that, so why couldn't he just... say it, instead of pretending like everything would be fine? He couldn't just drag his friends and Grandparents along to such a big event.

Not without telling them that the King and Queen of monsters were going to be there, not to mention Papyrus' boyfriend, the savior of monsters themself, and a handful of others along with whoever the savior of monsters invited. Cassidy hadn't even known that Frisk was such an important kid until recently! He wanted to go, and he wanted the people he was thankful for to be with him, but the thought of such a crowd was enough to send his heart sinking, especially at the thought that the people he was closest to wouldn't accept all of it.

He hardly ate any of the breakfast his Grandmother had somehow gotten around to making that morning, he barely paid attention in class, barely touched his lunch, and he very nearly avoided the disaster that had a name (Patrick Walsh). After all, the real disaster rolled around about six that night, or the beginning of it, at least.

His friends arrived at his front door around five and sat around the living room with him while they waited for his Grandparents to finish doing their own things; his Grandmother insisted on baking a pumpkin pie and his Grandfather, ironically, couldn't find his supposed "most dashing" tie. They really care about buttering his friends up, especially when they would probably be let down.

At least his Grandfather was willing to drive his van to the given address...

Cassidy purposely dressed in the same clothes he wore every day, glad to see that his friends had down the same, aside from Issa who always enjoyed dressing up with or without an occasion. He did his best to ignore his Grandmother's scolding towards his ripped jeans and sneakers, and it took everything within him to not lock himself up in his room when she insisted on doing his hair in a different style. He managed to keep his pigtails in place.

Barely.

By the time they all arrived at the very ordinary-looking home, he was gripping at his seatbelt for dear life and hoping that tonight would not be the night he had a heart attack, though he would've been fine with Satan opening a hole in the ground beneath the van and swallowing them whole.

"You ready?" Pepper questioned, probably noticing his death grip since everyone was starting to pile out, and he nodded stiffly. "Relax, Cas. If you wanna ditch, just let me know. We'll go throw rocks at the ravine and have a smoke."

He was trying to relax, and her whispering instead of blurting out private things in front of his Grandparents helped a little, but he was still praying to Satan for a miracle. They were here, so they might as well go in... but that didn't stop him from pulling his hood up as his Grandfather knocked on the front door with his award-winning smile on display. A tall, soft-looking goat(?) woman answered the door, dressed in a long turtlenecked dress, and she radiated a sense of calm that only increased as she smiled at the group.

It could barely override Cassidy's anxiety. This would be a wonderful time, Satan...

"You must be the group Sans informed me of." She spoke softly, opening the door fully and extending her arm as she stepped aside, welcoming them in. "I am Toriel, and this is my home. You are all welcome here!"

Holy shit, this was just fine. They all arrived and the Queen of monsters answers the door, invites them into her home, and this was the point where Cassidy subconsciously shrank a step back, hunching his shoulders. To his relief, his Grandparents were champions and were somehow okay with the idea of spending Thanksgiving like this, and his friends practically pushed him through the door in their excitement. So far, so good, except that they were the only humans there, aside from none other than the savior of monsters themself.

They really didn't stand a chance, but they were diving in anyway.

The hall opened up into a large living room where several monsters were standing around idly, chatting amongst each other, and within moments, Cassidy found himself standing alone as his Grandparents took off one way and his friend split up to go socialize for once. He watched in awe as Joss conversed comfortably with a man made of flame and with a glance around, he noticed... too much for his brain register.

Papyrus was animatedly chatting with another large goat monster, this one with a fluffy beard and broad shoulders, and Cassidy could hear his deep, booming chuckle from across the room. A sleek, and oddly familiar, robot rounded the corner and flagged Papyrus down, greeting him with a kiss to each cheek, and the blue-haired teen wouldn't have been surprised if the tall skeleton melted at that moment. On one of the side tables sat a very unhappy looking flower in a pot that reminded him of how Jermaine was when they first met and watching them all interact... he felt like he was in way over his head.

Frisk came dashing out of the kitchen, or what he assumed was the kitchen, with a short yellow monster racing right after them; the monster kid tripped, landing face-first, but seemed to jump right back up like they were made of rubber. They ran right past Issa, who looked amazed as she slowly followed after the pair, and then Frisk jumped into the tall, bearded monster's arms, signing something to him in a seemingly happy way.

Cassidy didn't understand sign language, but he kind of wanted to learn it.

At some point, Frisk pointed in his direction and he pressed himself against the wall, wishing he could disappear, but the tall figure chuckled for some reason, smiling at him before he turned back to the energetic child in his arms. Cassidy proceeded to slink around the room, avoiding eye contact, and then disappeared into the secluded front hallway where he stayed for... quite a while, probably.

He stayed there until the front door was, quite literally, kicked open.

"NGAHHHHHHH! WHERE ARE MY FAVORITE PUNKS!?"

He flinched, drawing in on himself once again as a blue... fish? monster clad in skinny jeans and an oversized fall-patterned sweater stomped her way inside, (luckily) not noticing him standing by the doorway to the living room. He mentally thanked himself for wearing black and tugged his hood closer to his face; her volume was even worse than Papyrus', which was a damn feat. A short, pudgy, yellow lizard(?) monster padded in after her, wearing a similar sweater and round spectacles, and she looked somewhat nervous, which was quite an understatement for Cassidy right now.

"U-Undyne, we could have just knocked!" Ah, so the loud one was called Undyne. That... was fitting.

"Sorry, babe, I'm just so pumped!" Undyne stomped her feet as if to prove her point.

The blue-haired teen could feel his soul trying to escape his lanky body. This was too much... also, "babe"? Those two were a thing? Color him surprised... and totally invested. He really shouldn't have peered around the corner after the pair of girlfriends and stood vacantly in the archway because Pepper, who was actually chatting with the bearded monster, caught his eye and waved him over.

Could he just, like, be absorbed by the wall? Was that 100% out of the picture?

Nonetheless, after hesitating for a moment, he hunched his shoulders and made his way over to his best friend and the complete stranger.

"Cas, I was just talking about you!" Pepper exclaimed, ruffling his hair and effectively knocking his hood off, and all three things made him equally nervous. What had she said? His hair was a mess now... why had he gone with bright blue again? "This is King Asgore!"

Oh no. Oh nooo, Temperance... what have you done?

"Greetings, human." The King's voice, though low and soft, was still intimidating.

"Er... _hola_." Smooth, Cassidy, smooth.

"Cas was raised in Mexico, so he speaks fluent Spanish! It's a total curse that he doesn't have an accent because I think he'd sound amazing with one!" Pepper insisted, and he wondered if she was just making conversation or trying to make him look amazing so everyone thought better of him. "You'd think that his skin would be more tan, but he's the palest person I know!"

As Pepper continued to talk, he shuffled into a corner and tried to his, thinking of how much this was a bad idea. Why did he agree to come? This was a bad, bad idea...

"hey, pal. you doing okay?"

Sans seemed to suddenly appear at his side and he jumped, nearly letting out a yelp.

"Y-Yeah... I'm just not one for parties." Cassidy responded with a nervous laugh, and the skeleton nodded, though he still looked concerned; he was very expressive for a bunch of bones.

"it can be a bit much." Sans winced, though he stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall with the blue-haired teen. "i was thinking you wouldn't come. glad you did, though, and that you brought your folks. they seem really nice."

"Thanks. They're... pretty cool."

There was a moment of silence, and then Sans looked up at him with a smile.

"c'mon, i've got a pal you should meet."

Sans proceeded to introduce him to the flame man who ran a restaurant, Grillby, and in return, Cassidy introduced the skeleton to Joss, who had been conversing with the flame man since they had arrived; Jermaine had gone off in his own direction at first, but after a while, he seemed to drift back towards the blonde. Time gradually went by and before long, everyone was welcome to go and grab something to eat whenever they liked. Within minutes of that announcement, everyone had grabbed something.

Cassidy began to notice the relationships between all the monsters-- Toriel and Asgore weren't on the best of terms (though Asgore seemed to have a schoolboy crush on her), Undyne and Alphys seemed to get along fairly well with Asgore, no one seemed to like Jerry, Frisk was friends with everyone, so on and so on. Though his friends, and his Grandparents surprisingly, seemed to slide in, he felt... very out of place.

The moment he met up with Pepper again, he decided to stick close to her for the rest of the night, though he kept his distance whenever she was talking with someone unless she nodded him over. After a little while, he realized that she didn't intend to stop socializing and, at one point when they were walking across the room, he caught Undyne's eye. She... only had one, though she raised both eyebrows at him.

He smiled awkwardly in return.

He eventually managed to slip away from Pepper and headed for the back door, merely wanting to get some fresh air, though he was sure that no one would notice if he just left. No one noticed how bothered he was getting from all the socializing, after all. He sat on the back steps, placing his head in his hands as he contemplated every choice he had ever made in his life, but he was torn from his thoughts from a loud sigh beside him.

Sitting there was the unhappy golden flower from before, and it was frowning at him.

"If you want to pout, do it somewhere else." It huffed, obviously annoyed, and it turned away from him the best it could. For some reason, it didn't bother him, not at all.

"Well, at least someone isn't all smiles and snacks." He sighed in relief, wondering where the sudden bitterness came from... and "smiles and snacks", what the hell? "What's your name?"

It sneered before turning its head upside down and showing its teeth to him.

"I'm Flowey the flower! How wonderful to meet you!" Sarcasm dripped from the words and its tone, but he couldn't help the soft smile that pulled at his lips.

"I'm Cassidy. It's nice to meet you." He greeted, and it only huffed once again. "... you remind me of someone I know." For some reason, it felt nice to talk to him... it... whatever this thing was.

"Oh, they must be a joy to be around!" More sarcasm, though Cassidy knew why he was lashing out; he was unhappy.

"He's one of my best friends." The blue-haired teen admitted, giving the golden flower the most gentle smile he had worn in years, and he looked at him in disbelief.

"... really?" He asked, but then he let out a growl. "Listen, you can feel free to leave now if you're just having a laugh."

"Are you Frisk's friend?" Cassidy questioned, not knowing why he was trying so hard.

"No! They just like to see me suffer!"

"I doubt that."

"What do you know!?"

"I know that you're angry because you don't know how else to reach out. I understand that." Cassidy responded with a bit of a strain, averting his gaze to the wooden steps beneath them, and everything was silent for a moment. "... whatever happened to make you so unhappy, I'm sorry."

"Go away!" The golden flower almost shouted, seeming to only get angrier.

"... can I touch your petals?"

"Why even ask?" He looked at the blue-haired teen quizzically.

"Well, I don't want to do something that will make you even more unhappy."

The golden flower let out another huff and turned away once more, and Cassidy decided to be optimistic about that response. He reached out and gently brushed a petal; they were thick and floppy, more like the ears of a dog than actual petals. Flowey didn't slap him away, nor did he say anything else. He just sat there, and Cassidy retracted his hand.

"Would you like to come back inside?" He questioned as he got to his feet, and he got a negative grunt in response. "Okay." He opened the door but looked back for a moment.

"I hope things get better for you soon, Flowey. They probably will for you before they do for me."

There was silence, and Cassidy slipped back inside. He was surprised to see Sans hunched over near the door with his arms crossed, trying to look casual and utterly failing.

"he didn't hurt you, did he?" Sans inquired, and Cassidy blinked at him.

"Who, Flowey? No. He was fine, just unhappy." He responded, rubbing the back of his neck out of habit more than anything. "He wasn't bad at all, all bark and no bite if anything."

"you shouldn't be so slack to strangers, pal." Sans ground his teeth, which only made Cassidy blink again. "come on."

He lead the way back to the living room and the blue-haired teen, wondering what that was about, followed after him. The skeleton split off to go talk to Papyrus and Mettaton, looking ready to kill, and Cassidy hesitantly took a seat on the couch, not wanting to screw up anything further. Moments later, however, none other than Frisk walked over and plopped themselves into his lap, holding a small whiteboard.

Cassidy blinked and then smiled.

" _Oye_ , kiddo." He greeted, and they began to scribble on the whiteboard. "What's up?" They held up the board.

'I like your Grandparents and your friends.' It read, and he smiled a bit.

"Yeah, they're great." He agreed, his smile only growing as they let out a giggle. "Abuelo and Abuela were nice enough to take me in, and I never expected to have such great friends. We all have nicknames, aside from Jermaine because he's one super serious dude; Temperance goes by "Pepper", Josephine goes by "Joss", Larissa goes by "Issa", and they call me "Cas". Of course, some of us use those nicknames as aliases outside of our group, but their origins are what matter."

Frisk erased what was on the board, and then they scribbled again.

'You made them sound 100% better.'

"I didn't do anything but speak the truth." Cassidy insisted, letting out a soft laugh.

'Where's your dog?'

"Atlas is at home, probably sleeping or lying down at the front door, waiting for us to get home."

'Is it just you, your dog, and your Grandparents?'

Cassidy paused, going silent for a moment, and he shook his head.

"My Padre and Madre are in Mexico with the rest of my siblings; they sent me here to live with my Grandparents." He spoke up after thinking about what to say and how to say it.

'You don't look Mexican.'

"I'm not." He admitted, unable to help the laugh that escaped him. He never talked about these things, but Frisk seemed like a great kid. "I was born American, but grew up in Mexico with the Aspen family; they adopted me when I was five."

'You're adopted, too?'

"Yeah. We're quite the stereotype, huh?"

Frisk bounced up and down slightly in his lap, though they stopped when Sans walked up to them and took a seat, making himself comfortable next to them.

"what you up to?" He asked as the child crawled off of Cassidy's lap to sit between the pair, and out of habit, Cassidy propped his elbow up on the back of the couch, letting his hand hang above Frisk's head.

"We're just planning world domination, that's all. Nothing new." The blue-haired teenage responded, sending a playful wink down at the human child, and they nodded in agreement, grinning casually. Sans merely chuckled.

This night hadn't turned out so bad, after all.

" _Nieto, es hora de irse_!" He heard his Grandfather calling out, and he jumped a little, not expecting the man's voice. His Grandfather rarely spoke, and when he did, it was purely in Spanish because he knew how to speak very little English.

" _Estaré allí en un momento! Tengo que despedirme de mis amigos_!" Cassidy called back, watching as his Grandfather nodded before disappearing, and he turned back towards the pair. He realized just then that he had addressed them as his friends... which they were, he supposed. "Sorry, I have to get going. My Grandparents have work tomorrow, plus my friend and I have school."

"heh, it's alright." Sans insisted as Cassidy got to his feet, removing one of his hands from a pocket to wave. "we'll see you soon, kid."

'Goodbye, Cas!' Frisk quickly scribbled on their whiteboard, and the blue-haired teen reached out to ruffle their hair.

"You're cool, kiddo. You can come by and hang out anytime you want, alright?" He offered, flashing them a smile. "You can teach me sign language and I'll teach you Spanish."

Frisk clapped happily and jumped to their feet faster than Cassidy had ever seen someone move before, racing up to Toriel and signing hastily; before he knew it, the Queen of monsters herself was walking him to the front door with a chuckle.

"Frisk tells me you would be willing to watch them sometime. Is this true?" She questioned with all the grace and authority that anyone would expect from a Queen, even if the title wasn't used so much anymore.

"Of course. They're welcome anytime." Cassidy informed with a soft smile, and Toriel nodded warmly to him.

"I see that they have made a good friend." Something about the way she said it made him flustered, something he rarely ever was.

"Ha, I guess... thank you for having me and the others." He thanked her as he stepped out the door, though there was a glint in her eyes that insisted she was waiting for something. It took him a moment to figure out what. "Ah. _Gracias por tenerm_ e is how we say "thanks for having me" in Spanish."

"I see." She mused with an amused smile. "You are welcome here any time. Take good care of yourself and your loved ones."

"Of course."

She waved from the door as he descended down the steps of the house, and he turned around to wave back before jogging towards his Grandfather's van. He hopped into the back seat, barely able to get his seatbelt on before his Grandfather started to drive, and his Grandmother yelled out the window.

" _¡Buenas noches, majestad!_ "

Cassidy couldn't help but laugh, though he was quickly bombarded with questions not long after.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Not long after he had climbed into bed, Cassidy was getting notification pings, and he let out a sleepy sigh when he saw that Sans had texted him.

**sans: did you and the others have a good time?**   
**Cas: Sure did. They were all bombarding me with questions and thanking me for inviting them, though they admitted to being slightly surprised.**   
**Cas: By the way, thank you for inviting me, and inviting me to invite them.**   
**sans: that's a lot of inviting, kid**   
**sans: no problem**   
**sans: you should consider our Halloween get-together and Christmas party**

Cassidy let out a tired laugh.

**Cas: I'll consider it.**   
**sans: have a good night, bud**   
**Cas: You, too.sans: also, be careful around that weed. i don't want you getting hurt.**   
**sans: take care of yourself**

With that, the texts stopped coming, leaving Cassidy tired, confused, and for once that night...

He was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hard Times - Paramore
> 
> ~
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Dios mío = My God  
> hola = hi  
> Oye = Hey
> 
> Abuelo = Grandfather  
> Abuela = Grandmother  
> Padre = Father  
> Madre = Mother
> 
> Nieto, es hora de irse = Grandson, it's time to go
> 
> Estaré allí en un momento! Tengo que despedirme de mis amigos = I'll be there in a moment! I have to say goodbye to my friends
> 
> Gracias por tenerme = Thanks for having me
> 
> ¡Buenas noches, majestad! = Have a good night, your majesty!


	5. A Sadness Runs Through Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "People are puppets held together with string  
> There's a beautiful sadness that runs through him"
> 
> Projects, driving, school, and depression.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I know it' not the proper day or time to upload, but I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't dead. I'm just a very busy person. I definitely won't be uploading every Sunday, but I am continuing this story.
> 
> I'm just a very busy and very tired boiii

**October 15th**

 

Mondays had the tendency to be the worst day of the week.

The sound of Esperanza's humming drifted down the hallway from the bathroom and into Cassidy's bedroom, where the blue-haired teen was sitting at his tiny desk trying to finish a project for school. The tabletop was littered with papers holding more content than he could explain, including numerous colored pens and several tiny tacks, and he had already been pricked and stabbed so many times, but he had a tiny package of band-aids against the far back corner of the desk so he didn't have to make the trek down the hallway anymore.

Moments later, he heard the soft patter of footsteps on the creaking floorboards, and he didn't have to turn around to know that his Grandmother was standing in his doorway; he had learned the difference between the footsteps of his Grandfather, Grandmother, and dog many years ago.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" His Grandmother asked, but he didn't lift his eyes from his desk as he used the edge of a nearby book as a makeshift ruler for his ballpoint pen.

"I'm already dressed, just need to tie my hair up." He insisted with a shrug, and his Grandmother was at his side in only two strides, one of her hands ruffling his hair.

"Did you even brush your hair?" She questioned with a chuckle, and he leaned away from her touch. "I still don't understand why you dyed it, or why you always wear it in pigtails. Wouldn't a ponytail suffice? Why does it have to be so long?" He couldn't help but scowl.

"It's how I like it."

"Disheveled is the new "hip" look, then?"

"Don't say hip, not ever again. It's not cool."

His Grandmother let out a soft sigh, her hand slipping from his hair and going down to his shoulder, and he could feel her eyes examining the paper below him.

"Where's this adventure taking you?" She wondered, bringing him to chew softly on his bottom lip as he looked down to the large, purple dot on the country of Nepal. His fingertip traced the wrinkled and creased paper as he responded, his voice barely a whisper.

"Everest."

When he closed his eyes, he could feel the icy wind pierce his skin and the giant gusts blowing his hair back as he stood at the top of the world. He was no stranger to snow or mountains, but the adventure of uncertainty and the unknown is what drew him closer to the world itself and its creations. He had been staring at this map for hours to work on his project, but at some point, when he touched the paper, it felt as if he was dipping his hand into a new tomorrow... which sounded very cheesy, so he wouldn't dare to voice that when he was forced to present to the class.

His Grandmother squeezed his shoulder and he finally looked up at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as she winked down at him.

"I'll see if it's in the budget." She spoke with a serious tone, though he knew it most likely wouldn't happen, and with a quick glance at the clock on his side table, she stepped away from the desk. "I have to get to work... and you have to get to school."

"Joss got her license on Friday, so she's giving me a ride today... and God knows how many other days. She insisted on it and promised to break my foot if I said no, so I'll be here until 7:30 when she said she would show up." He explained, and his Grandmother rolled her eyes when he mentioned the promise.

"There's breakfast on the table." She told him with another soft sigh. "Get something to eat before you go, and bring something out to Josephine; Lord knows that girls needs it."

"I will." He droned out as he nodded down at his paper.

"Have a good day, Cassidy." His Grandmother murmured, suddenly leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "No detentions, please."

"No promises."

"I love you."

"Love you, too, abuela."

His Grandmother finally pulled away and he could hear her leaving the house from over his shoulder; he heard the clinging of her keys spinning on her chain, the closing of the fridge, and then he heard the front door opening before slamming shut behind the woman. The house was almost immediately so much quieter with the presences of his Grandparents, and Atlas came pattering into his room only moments later, curling up on his bed with a bored huff.

It wasn't even an hour later that Cassidy heard a familiar voice yelling for him from the street, followed by a honk. Putting his pen down, he took a moment to examine the project he had spent nearly all night doing, and his eyes glanced over all of the purple dots that drastically outnumbered the green and red. Green was for the places he had been, purple was for the places he dreamed to go, and red was for the places he hoped to never go back to; so far, there was only one red, and directly beside it was a pink dot.

It was his Grandmother's own least favorite color for her own least favorite place.

There was another honk, longer and seemingly louder, and Cassidy quickly jumped to his feet in a hurry to move. In only a few minutes he had packed up his stuff, slid on his boots, thrown on his backpack, and was making his way out the door without bothering to look back.

 

* * *

 

"Thanks for the free breakfast."

Joss' words were muffled between mouthfuls of a bagel as she navigated the streets of downtown Ebott with her knee; with one hand holding a bagel and the other determined to put her long, blonde hair into a ponytail, she had no choice but to go with the most dangerous option. Cassidy didn't mind, though. If they crashed, they didn't have to go to school, and if they died, very few people would notice their absences. Issa, who was on good terms with their Father unlike Joss, had gotten a ride to school earlier.

"Don't mention it," Cassidy replied, averting his gaze out the open window; the cold air of October felt good on his currently warm and clammy skin.

"Are you ready for Mr. Clarke's test today?" Joss asked as she returned her free hand back to the wheel, her hair successfully hanging in a ponytail.

"No." The blue-haired teen answered, turning his head to look at her, but she didn't look back at him. Joss could drive easily and effortlessly with no hands but she refused to look away from the road, even if it was just for a mere second. "I was hoping you could help me study during the third period?"

"Can't." She shrugged, taking another bite of her bagel. "I'm helping Mr. Montgomery with his club today; the poor guy needs it."

"Dude-"

"Don't dude me." Joss cut him off. "You had the whole weekend to study or ask for help, Cas." He rolled his eyes but didn't bother to argue because when Joss turned into a Mother, there was no going against her. She had extreme maternal instincts due to being the oldest of four children, and she didn't tolerate excuses.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, and as they pulled into the Ebott High School parking lot, neither of them were surprised by the lack of movement and activity. When the car was finally parked and the engine died, Joss' shoulder sagged slightly as she spared a glance at her watch, finally looking over at him.

"We're late... again."

"What a shocker."

Grabbing his backpack from down by his feet, Cassidy climbed out of the car and waited for Joss before heading towards the double doors leading inside. With no cameras or security and only a few windows around the office's main building, it was easy to sneak into the school without being seen, but their shoes still squeaked on the linoleum floor as they moved down the hallway towards their lockers. Cassidy reached his locker first and Joss stopped beside him as he undid the lock, which he rarely ever got open on the first try; Joss, on the other hand, had rigged her lock so it opened with just the exact amount of pressure without having to worry about excess numbers.

Finally, when his lock came undone, he was welcomed with the sight of ratty books and several misplaced papers.

"Dom bit Atti last night," Joss informed absentmindedly as she picked at her nails, breaking the silence of the quiet and empty hallway. "My sorry excuse for a Father threatened to bring out the belt to shut them up, but you know the twins--they hate each other until one of them cries, they apologize, and they become best friends all over again."

"Sounds kind of like our friend group." He snickered, glancing over at her smirking face for a moment, and he opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off by the creaking of the door to the girl's bathroom across the hall.

Seconds later, a single girl stepped out into the hallway, and Cassidy couldn't help but feel his stomach turn at the mere sight before him.

Catherine Lewis was, undeniably, the most popular and bitchiest girl in his grade; all the guys chased after her, and all the girls wanted to be her. She was surprisingly smart, though Pepper was, again undeniably, one of the smartest people in the school. Beyond that, Catherine was also dubbed the prettiest girl despite a few people thinking differently, and she was the most fake-friendliest. He had only shared a few conversations with her, but they had either been forced or him being bullied, as cliche as the word was.

Catherine didn't speak; she hardly even made eye contact with the pair as her cheeks burned a bright red. Instead, she turned on her heel and stormed down the hall without another look back, her small heels echoed on the hard ground as she walked. He had never seen her like that... and he didn't look away until the bathroom door opened again, but this time, he was startled by the figure that walked out.

Raymond Barrett's beady eyes flickered between Joss and Cassidy as he planted his hands on his hips, the way he stood showing arrogance to his character. Cassidy fought hard to keep from rolling his eyes at the boy's stark and prissy appearance, only because he was the top dog of the school. He was both popular and was Captain of... one of the sports teams the blue-haired teen cared little to remember... which meant that, while Catherine might be the Queen, Raymond was certainly the King. They were a match made in heaven, someone might say.

"What're you two looking at?" Raymond snipped out, and Cassidy's mouth opened slightly, but the words he wanted to say refused to be heard. Raymond's lip tilted upward just slightly, knowing that he had an edge, but Joss cleared her throat.

"You're in our hallway, Raymond." She stated, perfectly calm and confident. "What else are we supposed to look at?" There was an edge to her voice, a quiet ferocity. "Your hair makes it kind of hard to look away... oh, and the smudgy, pink lipstick as well. It's really not your color."

Cassidy eyed the redness that pressed at the edges of Raymond's lips and his stomach twisted, his mind not wanting to imagine what they were doing in that bathroom. The rapidness to push it away only added fuel to the fire that was his hatred for Raymond Barrett, who lifted a hand and rubbed his fingertips along his lips, missing the lipstick smudge by mere inches. Then, without another word, he scoffed and spun his perfectly polished heels in the other direction, and he walked away from them and the opposite way from where Catherine went.

"What the hell was that?" Cassidy questioned when Raymond finally rounded a corner, hearing Joss let out a breath he didn't know she had been holding. "You know he's gonna tattle to his team, not to mention Dennis and Pauline, right?"

"Let him." Joss sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked over at him. "It'll give Pauline a reason to talk to me; I've always wanted to punch her right in her stupid teeth."

"You're wild."

He turned back to his locker and grabbed his science book as Joss moved down the hall towards her own locker, and his gaze flickered back to the girl's bathroom. He shut his locker, putting the lock back on and double-checking to make sure he wouldn't get screwed over, and then his eyes ultimately glanced in the direction where Catherine had disappeared. For a moment, he wondered if she was okay, but then reality caught up to him and he knew that she wouldn't care about his unnecessary concern.

And in that moment, he wished he was anywhere but there, standing in the tiny hallway of Ebott High.

 

* * *

  
**October 20th**

 

Halloween was quickly approaching, but with his house being off the road and slightly sheltered by trees, Cassidy wasn't too worried about it; over the past three years he had lived in Ebott, hardly any trick-or-treaters came by unless they were teenagers who didn't even bother to wear costumes. He loved to dress up and pretend he was someone or something else, so he wasn't even close to being one of them, and he had only stayed home one year, the other two having been spent with his friends.

It was late into Saturday morning and he was busy making breakfast for lunch, content with just having some eggs and bacon. As he danced slightly around the kitchen, tossing a spare piece of bacon to Atlas--who was more than happy to contribute--his phone went off. He slid over to the counter and couldn't help but smile when he saw it was"The Great Papyrus".

His phone had recently been filled with plenty of numbers.

" _Buenas tardes, mi amigo de los huesos_."

"Hello, human- wait, what did that mean?" Yeah, that was Papyrus, but he was... quieter than usual.

"Basically just "Good afternoon, my friend"."

"Oh... well, I wanted to ask you a question."

"Ask away!"

"Can you... come over? Um, soon, preferably?" He sounded worried for some reason, and Cassidy's heart sank.

"Sure thing, Pap. I'll be over in about fifteen minutes."

"Thank you." He let out a sigh of relief before the line went dead.

Cassidy stuffed his phone into his pocket hurriedly and turned to the kitchen, boxing the eggs and bacon as quickly as he could. He tossed another piece of bacon to Atlas as he did, stuffed his feet into his shoes, and then dashed out the door with a promise to be back soon. Whatever had Papyrus concerned now had him concerned as well; he didn't care that he was only in a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants and, for once, he didn't care that his hair was still down.

As soon as he knocked on the door to the skelehome, it was flung open and he was let inside by a very fidgety Papyrus. He put the container of eggs and bacon on the kitchen counter and then turned back to the tall skeleton.

"What's up, big guy?" He questioned, and Papyrus wrung his hands, looking over his shoulder.

"... It's Sans." He sighed, turning back to the blue-haired teen. "Some days he just... locks himself in his room and refuses to come out or tell me what is wrong. I was hoping it had stopped, but..." He looked away. "... I was hoping you could help him. He and you work on a similar level that I will never be able to understand."

Cassidy's gut twisted at the words and the look on Papyrus' face: lost, frustrated, concerned. He doubted that Sans would be willing to open up to him if he wasn't willing to open up to his brother, but the teenager was willing to give it a shot.

"I'll try, Pap."

"Thank you."

He was lead into a hallway he hadn't dared to enter before; there were two doors on the left and two doors on the right. One bathroom, two bedrooms, and a spare room that might've just been a closet. Papyrus stopped at the last door on the right, directly across from a door covered in stickers and decorated with an old pirate flag, and he nodded to the left door before quickly disappearing back into the living room. Cassidy faced the fairly intimidating door, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his neck, and then he straightened up with a deep breath, knocking gently.

No answer.

"Sans?" He pressed closer to the door, speaking softly though he stayed loud enough to be heard. "It's... it's me, Cassidy." No answer. "... Please. I want to help."

There was a sharp click and the blue-haired teen gave a startled look down at doorknob; he hadn't expected anything, let alone for Sans to unlock the door.

"I'm coming in, okay?" He carefully grabbed the doorknob, waiting for a moment in case the short skeleton had a change of heart and decided to lock the door again. When it didn't happen, he took another deep breath and slowly pushed the door open.

The room was almost as dark as the forest in the middle of the night, but he could see the shadow of clutter on the floor, a bulky shape in the corner, a long table, and a bed in the far corner. On the bed was a hunched shape he could only assume was Sans, and he approached tentatively, knowing the varying boundaries one could have in a situation like this; on many occasions, he had been conflicted about so much as breathing the same air as someone else.

"I'm gonna sit with you, okay?"

No answer, though the shape on the bed might have shifted, and Cassidy sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, being careful to give Sans space. The skeleton was hunched in on himself, hood drawn up and head tilted down in an all too familiar way, and it made the blue-haired teen ache to see someone normally so determined to keep a strong exterior looking so... broken.

"Hey..." He whispered, getting nothing in response. "How are you feeling?" Nothing again. "... You know you can talk to me, right?"

"i don't want to scare you away." His voice was hushed and hoarse around the edges, and Cassidy blinked, a little surprised that he got a response when he hadn't expected anything. "if i tell you what's wrong, you'll only freak out."

"Then don't tell me, just let me be there for you," Cassidy told him, pausing for a moment. He knew how this worked... or, at the very least, how he worked. "Locking yourself away isn't going to help anyone, most of all yourself."

There was a long, long pause.

"... has someone ever promised you that they wouldn't do something, but you're afraid they'll do it anyway?"

"Often." The blue-haired teen grimaced in empathy.

"what do you do?"

The teenager glanced at him in disbelief; he still wasn't looking at him, but he had more or less just asked for advice from someone younger than him.

"... Give them a reason not to," Cassidy spoke up after mulling it over, and Sans shifted slightly. "If it's something they do when they're feeling a certain emotion, try to make sure that they don't feel that emotion. At least, that's what I try to do."

A few minutes of silence passed and the teen was considering leaving the skeleton to his thoughts, but he spoke up again, even quieter than before.

"i'm scared one day i'll wake up and all of this will be gone." His shoulder hunched higher as if it made him afraid to even admit it. "that one day i'll wake up and... you'll be gone and i won't be able to find you again."

"Hey, bud, you can't shake me off that easy." Cassidy insisted with a bit of a joking tone, smiling as gently as he could. "I plan on sticking around for a long time, so I'll always be here."

"you don't know that."

"Well," The blue-haired teen started, thinking for a brief moment. "If by some trick of fate, something manages to tear through our friendship, I'm sure Papyrus will manage to bring us back together."

"and what if he can't?"

"Then I'll just have to find you."

Sans' head snapped up and, for the first time that day, his gaze met Cassidy's. There were dark shadows under his eyes sockets; his lights were dim but large and round as he stared at the blue-haired teen in some form of disbelief.

"... your hair is down..."

"Yeah, I kinda rushed over here." Cassidy let out a light chuckle and gave Sans a smile, hoping that he looked encouraging. "Papyrus is really concerned and I couldn't help but be concerned as well."

"... why...?"

"Because I want to help you. You deserve so much more than what the world has given you." Cassidy insisted in response. Seeing a smile on Sans' face was a good sign. The blue-haired teen swung his legs off the bed again, patting the skeleton's back hesitantly, and then got to his feet. "I brought over some pancakes for, uh... brunch. Come out whenever you're ready to, okay? Take your time."

With that, Cassidy slowly made his way to the door.

When he glanced back, Sans was still smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Sadness Runs Through Him - The Hoosiers
> 
> ***
> 
> Translations:
> 
> abuela = grandmother
> 
> Buenas tardes, mi amigo de los huesos. = Good afternoon, my made-of-bones friend.


	6. This Is Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Boys and girls of every age  
> Wouldn't you like to see something strange?"
> 
> Halloween.
> 
> That's it. That's the chapter.
> 
> Oh, and Cassidy has a panic attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The schedule has been shot a thousand times and left for dead in a ditch.
> 
> I hope I'm next. (jk)

**October 31st**   
**HALLOWEEN DAY**

 

_Halloween had fallen on a Wednesday; the temperature was noticeably cooler, and everyone's houses were more elaborately decorated for all the extra time and attention._

Cassidy loved Halloween; there were no gifts or special meals to prepare, but he got an excuse to read scary stories and practice with his special effects kit. He had decided to not go trick-or-treating this year, opting to hand out candy with the skeleton brothers instead, and even though his friends would be going without him, they were understanding about his choice. They had even offered to bring their entire candy haul to school the next day.

Pulling his mask over his face, Cassidy made his way out the front door with Atlas (who had been dressed up as a puppy police officer because of his Grandfather) on his leash not too far behind him, and he promised his Grandparents that he would be back before it was too early in the morning. When he got to the skelehome, it looked like Sans was out and about, but Papyrus was busy setting up some pumpkins on the front porch.

"HUMAN! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY FANTASTIC CARVING SKILLS?" Papyrus beamed at him, clapping his hands happily, and Cassidy couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

"The pumpkins look great, Pap. I'm impressed." Cassidy responded as he unhooked Atlas from his leash, letting the Pomeranian run inside through the open door. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Atlas along. _Abuelo_ thought the kids would get a kick out of him."

"I DO NOT! HE LOOKS AMAZING, AS DO YOU!" Papyrus complimented, and Cassidy pushed his mask up to rest on top of his head with a smile.

"I'm glad you think so."

It was then that Sans appeared, shuffling inside, and his gaze immediately went to Atlas. He looked at him for a few moments, then chuckled, and then swiveled his gaze to look at Cassidy, who waved in greeting.

" _Feliz Halloween_ , Sans!" Cassidy greeted, and then he was handed a pumpkin. Papyrus bounced into the house, talking loudly about his costume, and the blue-haired teen stared after him in confusion before sharing a light laugh with Sans.

The blue-haired teen went on to help get thing ready, soon being helped by Papyrus as soon as the tall skeleton was dressed in an over-the-top Chef's outfit, and Sans disappeared to God-knows-where. The pair hefted a long table out the door and down the steps to set it up in the driveway, draping it in a pumpkin-decorated tablecloth and several candles, and then Cassidy took a look around. There were orange lights hanging from the trees in the yard and the jack-o-lanterns were just done being placed around the yard when a car pulled up to the house.

Out lunged a familiar blue fish monster dressed in tattered clothes, with somewhat badly done "gory injuries", who tackled Papyrus and was followed by a short, yellow monster dressed in a tacky pumpkin-themed sweater, looking very shy. He recognized them and Undyne and Alphys. Cassidy waved to her when she looked up, and she waved back with a smile before she went to chastise her girlfriend for attacking the tall skeleton.

"So this is the same punk from Thanksgiving, huh!?" Undyne nearly yelled, now standing intimidatingly close with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, that's me." Cassidy took a step back, grinning feebly. "Sorry for the... awkward first, uh... meeting?"

"O-Oh, no, don't worry about it! We understand!" Alphys insisted, trying to be reassuring as she smiled in return, and Cassidy couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank God..." He trailed off, unable to help his flushed face as Undyne laughed loudly at him, though Alphys told her girlfriend to quiet down and not get so excited.

Meanwhile, Atlas poked his head out of the front door and paused to examine the situation, and then went bounding to Cassidy, barking all the while.

"ALPHYS, LOOK AT THIS DOG!" Undyne suddenly burst out, pointing at the Pomeranian. "Just look at how totally cute it looks! Is this your dog!?"

"Uh, yeah," Cassidy responded, absentmindedly kneeling down and holding out a hand to Atlas, who was happy to lick his fingers. "This is Atlas. It means "to carry". It's, like, y'know... like the mythical Titan who bore the weight of the world on his shoulders. It's, uh, of Greek origin."

"He's cool. You're cool." Undyne seemed to decide, nodding as if she had just said the final word in an argument, and then she looked around. "Hey, Papyrus, you didn't do a half-bad job on all this."

"OF COURSE I DIDN'T!" Papyrus, who just finished straightening his costume, tossed his head back, causing his hat to fall to the ground. "THOUGH I HAD HELP FROM THE HUMAN!"

What? Cassidy looked over at Papyrus in surprise, knowing that he was hardly one to pass the spotlight to another, and then it dawned on him: the big goof was trying to help out with giving Undyne and Alphys a good impression.

"Man, you just keep getting cooler!" Undyne laughed uproariously, proceeding to hook an arm under the blue-haired teen's arm and noogie him hard enough to hurt. She then charged into the house to God-knows-what reason, and he couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him.

"I-I'm sorry about her. She can b-be a bit much." Alphys apologized and wrung her hands nervously, looking somewhat sweaty.

"It's no problem, really. I don't mind." Cassidy insisted with a weak shrug, a little afraid of the chaos that was to come. He lifted a hand to rub his neck, realizing that he was also sweating, and he let out a soft chuckle. "She reminds me of my friend Pepper, though she isn't as loud or... passionate."

Undyne came galloping out of the house with a ton of boxes full of candy and set them on the table, and Alphys went to make sure nothing had been broken in the process.

Sans came shambling out of the house, looking very pleased with himself, and he scanned everything slowly, smiling wider... if possible.

"we did a good job on this."

"YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"i supervised. from my room."

Cassidy let out a laugh at Papyrus' loud groan. He could get used to this quirkiness... despite it being loud, it was refreshing.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the night went smoothly.

The kids were amazed by the skeletons, fish, lizard, and out-of-place human, and they loved Atlas perhaps a little too much. They also ooed and awed over Cassidy's costume, telling him how scary he looked with all the fake blood and his mask. A few teenagers showed up, looking ready to cause chaos, but they had been scared off as Atlas bared his teeth and growled low in his throat. For those few moments each time, he looked terrifying despite being so small and fluffy, and Undyne seemed impressed.

Undyne showed off how many kids she could flex with, having them dangling off her arms, which Cassidy actually found quite awesome, but Alphys toned her down when she got too loud. Papyrus showed off his abilities, though it was really just him showing off his skeletal biceps, and Sans had been able to scare off the kids who scoffed at him with a single look.

It was fun.

What wasn't fun was the parents; a few of them looked on with scorn, a few looked at him in confusion, and a few acted like he wasn't even there. However, what was even worse was the older siblings, bored with having to look after their little siblings, and a few of them had even shot winks his way, probably mistaking his gender because of his pigtails.

Eventually, the trick-or-treaters stopped coming, which was both a relief and slightly disappointing. It had been fun, but it had also been very exhausting. After they had picked up all the wrappers on the ground and got the table back inside, Cassidy found himself waving goodbye to Undyne and Alphys at the end of the driveway.

"This one's a keeper!" Undyne chortled, jabbing a finger at him from the driver's seat, and Alphys smiled at him from the other side.

"I-It was nice to meet you... for real!" She laughed, sounding a little nervous. "I hope we can hang out more often!"

"Me, too! You guys are cool!" Cassidy responded with a smile of his own.

They drove off with Undyne hotting out the window and probably waking up half the neighborhood, and the blue-haired teen let out another sigh in relief, deciding to trail over to the grass and flop down. Sans joined him after a moment, followed by Atlas who happily jumped onto Cassidy's stomach and lied down to take a nap, and they both rested there in silence for several relaxing moments.

"you did a good job, entertaining those kids."

"Atlas did most of the work."

"yeah. and yet, a circus ain't a show without the lion tamer." Sans laughed, and Cassidy knew that he had a point.

After a few minutes, the blue-haired teen rolled to his feet and sent Atlas off before extending a hand to the short skeleton, who gave him a wide grin before taking it. It... was a bit of an effort to get him up.

"Sans, you need to get up or go on a diet."

"come on, kid. just put some backbone into it."

"Shit. I walked right into that one."

"it brings me joy."

When that was done with, Cassidy brushed himself off and then smiled at the skeleton tiredly, if not a tad hazily.

"I've gotta head off. I promised my Grandparents I would be home before too early." He remembered, and Sans gave him a shrug.

"say hi to your grandparents and your friends for me."

"Will do, skele-man."

Sans laughed, and after getting Atlas' leash back on, Cassidy took his leave with a wave to both skeleton brothers. They were both happy to wave back at the blue-haired teen, and they kept waving until he disappeared down the street.

 

* * *

 

Cassidy couldn't breathe.

His chest was tight, his lungs burned, and he couldn't help the intense panic flooding his body. He practically fell out of his bed, desperate to get out, and Atlas let out a whimper before rushing from the room. It was too dark to see; it was too hard to breathe. He managed to get to the light switch and he tried to call out to his Grandparents, to anyone, but he couldn't make his voice work aside from the pathetic whimper that escaped his throat.

He was scared.

After flipping on the light, he managed to retain some level of rational thinking, and he wondered who he could call, knowing that Atlas had never been able to wake up his Grandparents before. He managed to find his phone, still on his side table, and tried to press the power button with his trembling fingers. His vision became blurry as tears of frustration welled up, making it even harder to get the stupid thing on, but he succeeded. He wiped his eyes furiously, trying to see his contact screen just enough so he could decide who to call, but it wasn't like he had a ton of contacts.

He knew his only other option, though he didn't want to call them, he couldn't bother his friends who were bound to still be trick-or-treating. They were having fun, and who was he to ruin things for them?

He sighed, turning his phone off and trying to figure out if he could just try going back to bed or something, and he got his answer in the form of an indescribable, constricting fear crawling its way up to his throat. He had to make the call. He crawled back into his bed, taking his phone with him, and tried desperately to ignore any and all thoughts of doubt creeping into his mind. He bit back a sob, trying to make it all stop for a moment, but that was impossible. The panic, the stress, his fears, and insecurities; he needed... something.

He was about to stand up, his body trying to switch to autopilot, when he got ahold of himself and hit the call button before he lost his nerve. He listened to the dial tone and wondered if Sans was even still awake. The doubts were starting to creep up again, but then he heard a familiar click, the one signaling that someone had picked up.

"kid?" He sounded confused, but of course he was. It was 2:30 in the fucking morning. Cassidy let out a shaky sigh running his fingers through his hair, but before he got the nerve to speak, Sans was talking again. "it's 2:30. is everything okay? do you need something...?"

This was a bad idea. He should just hang up. Something was going to go wrong, he should just-

"I'm not okay." He blurted out, shocked at his own words that filled the silence on both ends of the line. He swallowed the lump in his throat and ran his fingers through his hair again, hearing the pitter patter of footsteps as Atlas came down the hall again. "I'm- God, Sans, I'm not okay. I'm really not okay."

His voice cracked towards the end of his sentence, and he couldn't help feeling frustrated with himself. What was Sans even supposed to say? Why should the skeleton care? Cassidy was being weak, and vague on top of that. He didn't need to bother trying to decipher the blue-haired teen's riddles. Why should he-

"what's wrong?" Sans whispered softly, and within moments, the tears had clouded Cassidy's eyes, racing down his cheeks and dripping off his chin.

He let out a shaky sigh, all the "what ifs" circulating through his brain and making his chest feel tighter, and he could feel a familiar ache. It didn't happen often, and it hurt worse than physical pain because he couldn't make it go away. He couldn't tell himself to stop hurting. There was nothing for that; no atibiotics, no band-aids, no antiseptic.

That wasn't how it worked.

"i swear i'll kill the bastard that's making you cry, cas."

Cassidy couldn't help from thinking that was just like Sans, never having used his nickname before, but suddenly using it in the middle of a serious moment. He tried to laugh, but it just came out as a sob, and he cried harder, burying his face in the fluff that was Atlas' fur; the Pomeranian had jumped up and was resting in his lap.

"S-Sorry..." He sobbed into Atlas' fur.

"it's alright. it's more than alright." Sans insisted, and things went silent for a moment aside from Cassidy's sobs and Atlas' worried whimpers. Sans spoke up again before too long. "... cas, are you having a panic attack?" His only answer was another sob, louder than the others, and it was more than enough. "it's okay. it's okay to be unsteady every once in a while. it's okay to let someone else bear your burdens for a bit."

Cassidy choked out another sob at his friend's words.

"you'll be okay, cassidy."

It took about an hour for Cassidy to finally calm down, to finally stop crying, and he kept the phone against his ear even as he lied down after completely tiring himself out.

"are you alright?" Sans suddenly asked, having been mostly silent the whole time, and Cassidy had to think for a moment.

"... no." He admitted softly, and Sans had to strain to hear him. "... but I'm better, thanks to you."

"good." The skeleton said, and Cassidy didn't miss the relief in Sans' tone. "do you want to talk about it?"

"... not right now." The blue-haired teen responded, trying to tell Sans that he would at some point. He was grateful for the skeleton being there, but he was too tired to talk after all of his crying.

"alright. do you wanna stay on the phone until you fall asleep?"

"I don't want to bug you, though..."

"i don't mind, kid."

"... okay."

Minutes later, Cassidy had fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> Abuelo = Grandfather  
> Feliz Halloween = Happy Halloween


	7. BLOOD // WATER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Look me in my eyes  
> Tell me everything's not fine"
> 
> Shopping, Soccer, and someone's mother is in town.

**November 4th**

 

"Eggs, anchovies... what in the world is acciughe?"

It was a Sunday afternoon. Cassidy had found himself at the local supermarket shopping for his Grandmother; he had no idea why the woman couldn't go out and get the ingredients for herself, but he supposed that being pushed into doing chores was better than working almost all the time. He shook his head, doing his best to ignore the odd looks the other customers were giving him, and he ambled towards the pasta aisle with a basket full of ingredients.

Humans were still assholes, even to other humans and even after thousands of years full of wars and speeches about everyone needing to change their ways.  
He turned the corner, making his way into the pasta aisle, but he came to a standstill upon seeing who was already there. Out of every cheap-ass grocery store on this side of town, why did Papyrus have to choose this one? He was seemingly analyzing each and every shape and size of pasta, which would have been funny if he wasn't holding at least a dozen or so boxes. This store was small; it was only a matter of time before Papyrus noticed him anyway, so Cassidy decided to just get it over with.

"AH, HUMAN!" Papyrus beamed as soon as he spotted the blue-haired teen. This was a mistake... any and all determination he had previously just combusted in on itself, and all it took was Papyrus' wide smile. "WHICH VARIETY OF PASTA DO YOU PREFER?"

Cassidy hopelessly smiled back and grabbed the noodles his Grandmother wanted.

"You truly appreciate your Italian, don't you?" He questioned, unable help but let out a light laugh. "I don't know... maybe you should just get one box?"

"BUT," Papyrus' smile fell and he clutched at the boxes as if for dear life. "THERE ARE SO MANY I HAVE YET TO TRY!"

"Well, uh, let me see what you've got." Cassidy sighed almost helplessly, going with a small idea that has formed in the back of his mind, and he picked one of the boxes from the skeleton, seemingly scrutinizing it. "Hm... no."

The blue-haired teen put the box back on the shelf and then picked up another from Papyrus' arms, doing the same thing until he had narrowed it down. Eventually, he dusted off his hands and nodded decisively.

"You'll just have to try those lesser-pastas some other time, okay?"

Papyrus nodded excitedly and dropped the two remaining boxes into the shopping cart, and Cassidy let out a chuckle as they both made their way out of the aisle. Papyrus even took his basket and placed it in the cart, in the spot where little kids usually sat. Well, it looked like he would be hanging out with Papyrus for a bit...

"Do you have anything else you need, Pap?" Cassidy asked, and the skeleton seemed to think for several moments before suddenly remembering something... and dashing off, leaving the teenager behind. "... yeah, okay."

He chuckled and began to push the cart slowly down the aisle as he searched his mind to see if he was forgetting something for himself, leaning over the bar of the cart with his elbows resting on it evenly. He couldn't help but jump when he glanced over his shoulder, due to an oddly familiar feeling, and he saw that Sans had fallen into step right behind him, looking at ease despite the looks being shot their way.

"Dude, you need to stop doing that. You're gonna give me a heart attack." Cassidy sighed, feeling his heart returning to a steady pace from the sudden scare. Sans let out a chuckle but moved on from the subject of accidental death when he glanced into the cart.

"i see you managed to keep Papyrus from buying every kind of pasta they have."

" _Dios mío_ , it took about fifteen minutes." Cassidy laughed, pulling another chuckle from the short skeleton, and they both smiled when Papyrus came rushing towards them, dropping an armful of items into the cart. "Is that everything?" Papyrus nodded vigorously. "Alright, let's check out."

Humans were definitely assholes, especially the cashier when Papyrus started putting things on the conveyer belt.

She wrinkled her nose in distaste, and it morphed into a look of disgusted confusion when she saw the blue-haired teen right behind him. She didn't even greet them, beginning to hurriedly scan and bag their items, and before Cassidy could say anything, Sans beat him to the punch on paying for all of it. He realized that the short skeleton either didn't realize or didn't care... or he was just good at playing chill.

Probably that last one.

Cassidy almost snatched the receipt from her with barely restrained anger before flashing her a smile.

"You said your name was...?"

"Um... I'm Em." She raised an eyebrow and he nodded, looking at the receipt as though he was genuinely curious.

"And there's a survey for customer service on here?" He asked, and it was her turn to nod as she slowly realized where he was going with this.

"I'll be sure to leave exactly what I thought of Em's customer etiquette!" Cassidy insisted, flashing her a cold grin with his eyebrows raised. "Have a wonderful day!" With a wave, he grabbed the front of the cart, which Papyrus was now manning, and pulled it away.

Cassidy was angrily shoving the skelebro's groceries into the trunk of their car, after separating everything and offering to help out since his had been unexpectedly paid for, when Sans caught his arm.

"hey, don't get mad over someone who doesn't deserve it." 

"... sorry." The teenager huffed, a frown pulling at his lips as he let Sans take a bag from his hand. "I kind of feel like she deserved more than that, to be honest."

"we can fight our own battles. let us decide whether those battles are worth fighting."

There was a pause between them, full of silence, and Cassidy was the one to break it.

"Okay... but if someone is rude to Pap, I'm going to punch a bitch."

"you and me both."

 

***

**November 5th**

 

"You call that a shot? Throw your heart into that kick, Bowman!"

Cassidy let out a sigh, unable to help feeling bad for his classmate; the scraggly redhead, who was sweating profusely from head to toe, grimaced and could only nod at their gym teacher's shouts. He swung his foot toward the soccer ball with all the strength he could muster and the kick connected with a solid thwack, and the ball was sent soaring across the field in the general direction of the goal... but it sailed quite majestically far to the right of the net.

Oliver Bowman let out a groan, running a hand through his sweaty curls, but before he can manage an apology, the raucous laughter from their coach cut him off.

"What'd I tell ya!? Look at that passion!" She had crossed the field in a matter of a few strides, and Oliver found himself coughing as the wind was knocked out of him from the clap on the back he received. "We'll make a proper kicker out of you yet!"

"Y-You think so, Coach Strickland? I mean, I kinda... sent it... way off course..."

"Nah!" Her proclamation was so sudden that it made the poor sixteen-year-old nearly jump out of his shoes. "It's just finding its own way in life!" Her laugh bellowed over the field and a couple of students found themselves laughing along with her.

Oliver was sent to the back of the line to stand with the others who had already kicked, and the next teen was called up. Gym for half of the eleventh grade was taking place outside on the field today, with the biological males on one side and the biological females on the other, and the gym teachers had decided to start the winter season with soccer for some reason... but the eleventh graders were much better at other sports or no sports at all.

There was one thing Cassidy was aware of, and that was the fact that Oliver might've been clumsy, but he wasn't dumb.

"Hey, Cassidy, have you been doing okay lately?" Oliver suddenly spoke up from behind him, though he seemed to shrink in on himself when both the blue-haired teen and his dark-skinned friend turned around.

"Yeah, I'm good," Cassidy responded, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck, though it was only because he didn't want Oliver to notice how uncomfortable that question made him feel. Was it... that obvious to see that he wasn't getting the most sleep?

Lucky for him, the bell rang for class dismissal.

"Okay." Oliver seemed to relent because of the bell, though he did glance Cassidy over with a wary look. "I'll see you in History first thing tomorrow, then?"

All Cassidy could do was nod.

 

***

 

When the end-of-the-day bell rang out, Cassidy was out of his seat like a bullet and making a beeline for where knew Pepper's last class was, even though it was on the other side of the building. With his long legs, he could easily look over the heads of most of his peers without having to stand on his tiptoes, but Pepper had the short end of the stick by barely gaining half a foot in height over the past two years... pun unintended.

Nonetheless, Cassidy was still able to spot his friend coming out of her last class, but his gut curled in all kinds of knots when Patrick Walsh suddenly swaggered up to Pepper's side and put an arm over her shoulders. The swarm of excited teenagers eager to leave the building and go home made the blue-haired teen's progress slow and by the time he reached Pepper, Patrick had wandered off with a few of the other popular guys.

"What did he want?" Cassidy asked, struggling to keep his cool. Pepper only shrugged and, even though every fiber of his being was screaming at him, Cassidy decided not to push the issue.

Today was a different day, one where the four friends couldn't hang out at the ravine together due to some important reasons, so Pepper and Cassidy opted to walk away from the school building together in companionable silence. When they reached the closest bus stop, which wasn't very far from the school, Cassidy paused before turning to Pepper again.

"Do you mind if I wait here with you?" He asked, shifting his weight between his feet as his schoolbag weighed heavily on his back, and Pepper gave him a soft smile, shrugging her shoulders.

The two of them found a good spot on the few benches set up and Cassidy spent a few moments staring at the grass beneath their feet. His foot tapped rhythmically on the ground for a few moments before he heard another sound joining in with a supplemental beat, and he glanced over at Pepper to see her drumming lightly on her thighs with her hands. They spent the next several minutes jamming out, and Cassidy even made a valiant (if not ill-advised) attempt at beatboxing before they both dissolved into giggles and elected to quit while they were ahead.

He looked out towards the schoolyard where many teenagers were gathering into groups with their friends; sprinting back and forth, laughing and chatting, tossing basketballs or simply exchanging handshakes. There was some kind of innocence in that setting, and he couldn't help but frown at the naivety of his classmates who had no care in the world for the nightmares around them.

It took him a moment to pull out of his thoughts. "Are you going to the stupid game tomorrow?" He asked Pepper. 

"No." Her answer initially was cold and blunt, but she continued in a softer voice. "I know it's for extra marks, but... my family and I are going to dinner with my mom."

"Oh." Cassidy shivered slightly, but he wondered if it was truly from the elements or not. "Is she... staying in town?"

"For now," Pepper responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know how long it will last. Hopefully not long..."

Pepper has always made it no secret that she despised her mother, and Cassidy couldn't find himself feeling much different about the woman after everything he had heard. She couldn't escape dinner, especially not with her entire family.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Cassidy asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Pepper hesitated to answer. "No," she finally said, fumbling with her hands. Her voice seemed to give her away, telling him otherwise, but he knew better than to push her. He didn't belong in her burning family tree, just as she didn't belong in his.

"Okay," Cassidy responded. After a beat, he added, "I'll leave my window unlocked."

Beside him, Pepper nodded her head in understanding.

"Thanks."

 

***

 

"I'm home!"

Cassidy tossed his keys on the small table by the front door and kicked said door shut behind him. He realized that nobody greeted him in turn, other than a lazy bark from upstairs that obviously belonged to Atlas, and he let out a sigh, making his way up to his room.

He frowned at the white blob resting on his unmade bed, specifically on his pillow, and he sat down with a huff, removing his shoes and depositing them near the foot of his bed. It was almost always like this, just him while his Grandparents either worked or were out doing something else.

"... wanna go for a walk?"

Barking.

At least he had Atlas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Dios mío = my God

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, please give it a kudo and/or leave a comment. Seriously, those things keep my anxious ass going.
> 
> Next Chapter: Sunday at around 9:00 PM (Pacific Time Zone)


End file.
